Canadian life insurance application activity showed a double-digit decline of -14.4% Year-over-Year (YOY) in April 2022 compared to April 2021, continuing a pattern of YOY declines that began in July 2021. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through April 2022 was down -10.4% compared to 2021. In addition, on a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, April 2022 activity was down -10.3% compared to March 2022.

April saw declining Year-Over-Year (YOY) activity across all age bands. Activity for ages 0-30 was down -9.7%, ages 31-50 down -19.1%, ages 51-60 down -10.5%, ages 61-70 down -8.5%, and ages 71+ down -13.4%.

April saw double-digit YOY growth in application activity for amounts over $1M, flat activity for amounts over $500K up to and including $1M, and double-digit YOY declines for amounts up to and including $500K.

When examining age bands, ages 0-30 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $500K up to and including $5M, triple-digit growth (>120%) for face amounts over $5M, and double-digit declines for all other face amounts. Ages 31-50 saw double-digit growth for amounts over $1M and double-digit declines for amounts up to and including $1M. Ages 51-60 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $500K and double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500k. Age 61-70 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $250K up to and including $1M and amounts over $2.5M, while all other face amounts saw double-digit declines. Ages 71+ saw growth for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M and double-digit declines for all other face amounts.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life showed double-digit YOY growth, while Whole Life showed declines and Term Life showed double-digit declines in April. When examining age bands, YOY activity for Term Life showed double-digit growth for ages 71+ and declines for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 0-60. In contrast, Universal Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 31-70, and double-digit declines for 71+. Whole Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-30 and double-digit declines across all other age bands.

About 29% of total Life Index volume for Canada in April did not include a product type. We believe the vast majority of these submissions are for Life Insurance applications and have included them in the composite analysis presented in this report. Missing product type information has a significant impact on the Canadian analysis. Growth varies when looking solely at submissions identified as Life Insurance products, with activity down -8.6% YOY for Canada in April 2022 and down -4.5% YTD.

NOTE; Due to frequent missing information regarding the applicant’s country of residence, effective April 2021 we are now identifying Canadian activity based on the company country.