Canadian life insurance application activity ended Q2 down -11.0% year-to-date (YTD), with activity in June down -11.8% Year-over-Year (YOY) and continuing a cycle of declines that began in July 2021. However, when examining month-over-month (MOM) activity, June was flat at +1.2% compared to May 2022.

All age groups showed YOY declines in June, in the double digits for ages 31-50. When comparing Q2-2022 to Q2-2021, YOY activity declined across all age bands, in the double digits for ages 31-50 and 71+. However, on a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, June saw flat activity for ages 0-60 and growth for ages 61+ over May 2022.

June and Q2-2022 both saw double-digit YOY growth for face amounts over $1M, flat activity for amounts over $500K up to and including $1M, and double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500K. When comparing Q2-2022 to Q2-2021 by age band, ages 0-30 saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500K and growth for face amounts over $500K, in the double digits for amounts over $1M. Ages 31-50 saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $1M and double-digit growth for face amounts over $1M. Ages 51-60 saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500K and growth for amounts over $500K, in the double digits for amounts over $500K up to and including $1M as well as amounts over $2.5M. Ages 61-70 saw double-digit declines for amounts up to and including $250k and growth for amounts over $250K, in the double digits for amounts over $250K up to and including $1M as well as amounts over $2.5M. Ages 71+ saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $2.5M, growth for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M, and double-digit declines for amounts over $5M.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life saw double-digit growth in June YOY of +22.5%, while Term Life was down -11.7% and Whole Life was flat at -0.1%. Similarly, when comparing Q2-2022 to Q2-2021, Universal Life saw double-digit growth, while Whole Life and Term Life saw declines, in the double digits for Term Life. It is interesting to note that Universal Life has consistently been at double-digit YOY quarterly growth since Q4 of 2020, with the exception of Q4-2021 where growth was flat. When breaking down quarterly YOY results by age bands, Universal Life saw double-digit growth for ages 0-70 and double-digit declines for ages 71+. Term Life saw declines for ages 0-60, in the double digits for ages 31-60, flat activity for ages 61-70, and double-digit growth for ages 71+. Whole Life saw growth for ages 0-30 and declines for ages 31+, in the double digits for ages 61-70.

About 29% of total Life Index volume for Canada in Q2-2022 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, declines are significantly more moderate with activity down -3.1% in June YOY, down -5.2% when comparing Q2-2022 to Q2-2021 and down -4.2% mid-year 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.