Canadian life insurance application activity dropped -12.5% Year-over-Year (YOY) in July 2021 compared to July 2020, reversing a YOY growth trend that started in March and reflecting the largest YOY decline since the height of the pandemic in May of 2020. July is the fourth month in a row with flat or negative growth Month-Over-Month (MOM) for Canadian activity and the July MOM drop of -18.8% is the highest on record since December 2018. However, on a YTD basis, the industry remains at growth for Canada at +4.1%.

All age groups experienced declines in July YOY with ages 0-30 and 51-70 declining in the double digits. Ages 0-30 dropped by -15.6%, ages 31-50 by -9.7%, ages 51-60 by -14.0%, ages 61-70 by -16.4% and ages 71+ by -8.3%. YTD, ages 0-50 and 71+ were at growth while ages 51-70 experienced slight declines (under 2%).

July saw double digit declines in application activity for face amounts up to and including $500K, slight growth for face amounts over $500K up to and including $1M and significant double digit growth (+25% or more) for face amounts over $1M. All age groups saw double digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500K. Ages 0-30 saw growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $1M. Ages 31-50 saw flat activity for face amounts over $500K up to and including $1M and double-digit growth for face amounts over $1M. Ages 51-60 saw growth in all face amounts over $500K, in the double digits for face amounts over $1M. Ages 61-70 saw double digit growth for face amounts over $500K up to and including $2.5M and amounts over $5M, but declines for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M. Ages 71+ saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $500K up to and including $5M and triple-digit growth for face amounts over $5M.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life continues to lead with significant double-digit growth YOY in July. In contrast, both Term and Whole Life experienced double-digit declines in July YOY. In a continuing trend, the younger age bands are driving this growth in Universal Life with those ages 0-30 in triple digit growth YOY and ages 31-50 at significant double-digit growth. Ages 51-60 had flat application activity for Universal Life while ages 61+ saw double digit declines. Term Life and Whole Life both saw double digit declines across all age bands.

About 37% of total Life Index volume for Canada in July 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. Growth varies when looking solely at submissions identified as for Life Insurance products, with activity down -16.6% YOY for Canada in July 2021 and up +7.1% YTD.

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