Canadian life insurance application activity declined in January, with YOY activity off -6.5% according to the MIB Life Index. On a monthly basis, January 2021 activity was relatively flat compared to December 2020 at +1.02%. Of note, January saw decreased activity over December among older age groups age 51+ and increases among younger age groups 0‑50.

Life Index ChartDeclines in January YOY were seen across all age bands, but were most notable for those ages 51+ who were down between 12%-13%. Younger age groups also declined with 0-30 down -3.7% and 31-50 off -4.5%.

The composite YOY decline in January was largely driven by face amounts up to and including $250K and also those over $1M up to and including $5M. When looking at age bands, results were mixed. Activity for ages 31-50 had growth in all categories over $250K. Ages 0-50 saw double-digit growth for policies over $5M. Conversely, the 0-50 age group declined for policies up to and including $250K, and the 0-30 age group saw double-digit declines for policies over $1M up to and including $5M. Older age groups of 51+ decreased YOY across all face amounts, reflecting double-digit declines for face amounts above $2.5M as compared to January, 2020.

Over 30% of total Life Index volume for Canada in January 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 Canadian analysis. When looking solely at submissions identified as for Life Insurance products, activity is up +6.0% for Canada in January 2021 over 2020.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, we see strong increases in Universal Life, which was up +22.7%. Whole life was up +8.1% while Term Life was flat at +1.1%. For the 0-30 age band, Term Life applications declined while activity for Whole Life increased and activity for Universal Life almost tripled. For ages 31-50, increases were seen across all product types with slightly more growth in Universal Life. Age groups 51+ saw increases in Term Life activity and double-digit declines in Universal Life YOY.

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

Contact: Betty-Jean Lane, MIB Group,Inc., 781-980-0017, BLane@mib.com