Canadian life insurance application activity showed a double-digit decline of -12.6% Year-over-Year (YOY) in May 2022 compared to May 2021, continuing a pattern of YOY declines that began in July 2021. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through May 2022 was down -10.9% compared to 2021. However, on a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, May 2022 activity was flat compared to April 2022 at -1.7%.

May saw flat YOY activity for ages 61-70, but declining activity across all other age bands. Activity for ages 0-30 was down -8.2%, ages 31-50 down -18.0%, ages 51-60 down -9.0%, ages 61-70 flat at -1.0%, and ages 71+ down -9.5%.

When examining activity by face amount, May 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 including age bands, ages 0-30 saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500K, growth for face amounts over $500K up to and including $1M, double-digit growth for face amounts over $1M up to and including $5M, and declines for face amounts over $5M. Ages 31-50 saw double-digit declines for amounts up to and including $1M, and growth for amounts over $1M, in the double-digits for amounts over $2.5M. Ages 51-60 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $500K up to $1M and face amounts over $2.5M, while all other face amounts saw declines, in the double digits for face amounts up to and including $250K. Ages 61-70 saw double-digit growth for face amounts over $250K up to and including $2.5M, while all other face amounts saw declines, in the double digits for face amounts up to and including $250K. Ages 71+ saw double-digit declines for amounts up to and including $1M, and growth for amounts over $1M, in the double-digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $5M.

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

About 29% of total Life Index volume for Canada in May 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 -3.8% YOY for Canada in May 2022 and down -4.4% 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.