June 9, 2025
Canadian life insurance application activity saw continued growth in May 2025 with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity up +4.0%. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, activity through May 2025 was also at growth, up +5.2% compared to May 2024. On a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, May 2025 activity saw declines by -3.9% compared to April 2025.
May 2025 saw Year-Over-Year (YOY) growth for ages 31+, in the double digits for ages 61+, and declines for ages 0-30. Activity for ages 0-30 was down -1.9%, ages 31-50 up +3.6%, ages 51-60 up +5.2%, ages 61-70 up +11.5%, and ages 71+ up +20.4%. It is interesting to note the fluctuating patterns for ages 71+ over the last 6 months, with YOY comparisons ranging from -2.8% in December 2024 to +20.4% in May 2025. On a YTD basis, ages 31+ saw growth, in the double digits for ages 71+, while ages 0-30 saw flat activity.
May 2025 saw growth for all face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $500K up to and including $5M. When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw YOY growth for amounts over $250K, in the double digits for amounts over $500K, and declines for amounts up to and including $250K. Ages 31-50 saw growth for face amounts up to and including $5M, in the double digits for amounts over $500K up to and including $2.5M, and declines for amounts over $5M. Ages 51-60 saw double-digit growth for amounts up to and including $250K, flat activity for amounts over $250K 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 growth for amounts up to and including $250K, amounts over $500K up to and including $1M, and amounts over $2.5M, while seeing declines for amounts over $250K up to and including $500K and amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M. Ages 71+ saw YOY double-digit growth for all face amounts.
When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life saw double-digit growth YOY in May 2025, while Term Life saw growth, and Whole Life saw flat activity. When including age bands, Universal Life saw YOY growth for all age bands, in the double digits for ages 31+. Term Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-50 and 61+, in the double digits for ages 71+, and flat activity for ages 51-60. Whole Life saw growth for ages 31-60 and declines for all other age bands, in the double digits for ages 71+.
About 31% of total Life Index volume for Canada in May 2025 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 can have a significant impact on the Canadian analysis. Growth varies when looking solely at submissions identified as life insurance products, with activity up +8.2% YOY for Canada in May 2025 and up +7.1% YTD.