Canadian life insurance application activity was flat in October 2026, with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity up +1.1% compared to October 2025. However, on a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through October continued to see double-digit growth at +12.3%. On a Month-over-Month (MOM) basis, October 2026 was down -6.7% compared to September 2026.

Ages 60+ experienced YOY growth in October 2026, in the double digits for ages 70+, and ages 0-59 saw declines. October YOY activity for ages 0-29 was down -4.6%, ages 30-39 down -3.7%, ages 40-49 down -2.6%, ages 50-59 down -5.0%, ages 60-69 up +3.4%, and ages 70+ up +40.7%. On a YTD basis, ages 30+ saw growth, in the double digits for ages 60+, while ages 0-29 saw declines. YTD activity for ages 0-29 was down -3.9%, ages 30-39 up +1.9%, ages 40-49 up +5.1%, ages 50-59 up +9.7%, ages 60-69 up +35.6%, and ages 70+ up +84.6%.

When examining activity by face amount, based on data reported to MIB by our members, October 2026 saw double digit YOY growth for amounts from $1 up to but not including $250K, and declines for amounts $250K and over, in the double digits for amounts from $1M up to but not including $2.5M, and for amounts $5M and over. On a YTD basis, activity through October 2026 saw growth for amounts from $1 up to but not including $1M and for amounts $2.5M and over, in the double digits for amounts from $1 up to but not including $250K, and declines for amounts from $1M up to but not including $2.5M.

When including age bands in our YOY analysis, ages 0-29 saw flat activity for amounts from $500K up to but not including $1M, declines for amounts from $1 up to but not including $500K, and double-digit declines for amounts $1M and over. Ages 30-39 saw growth for amounts from $250K up to but not including $500K, flat activity for amounts from $500K up to but not including $1M, and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts from $1 up to but not including $100K and for amounts $1M and over. Ages 40-49 saw growth for amounts from $100K up to but not including $250K, double-digit growth for amounts from $250K up to but not including $500K, flat activity for amounts from $1 up to but not including $100K and amounts $5M and over, and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts from $1M up to but not including $2.5M. Ages 50-59 saw double-digit growth for amounts from $1 up to but not including $100K, flat activity for amounts from $100K up to but not including $250K, declines for amounts from $500K up to but not including $1M, and double-digit declines for amounts from $250K up to but not including $500K and amounts $1M and over. Ages 60-69 saw growth for amounts from $1 up to but not including $250K and for amounts from $2.5M up to but not including $5M, in the double digits for amounts from $1 up to but not including $100K, and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts from $250K up to but not including $500K and for amounts from $1M up to but not including $2.5M. Ages 70+ saw double-digit growth for amounts from $1 up to but not including $250K and for amounts $5M and over, flat activity for amounts from $1M up to but not including $2.5M, and declines for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts from $250K up to but not including $500K.

Based on information reported to MIB by our members, October 2026 saw YOY double-digit growth for Term Life and Universal Life and declines for Whole Life. Term Life was up +21.6% YOY, Universal Life was up +15.1%, and Whole Life was down -4.1%. Term Life saw YOY growth for all age bands, in the double digits for ages 30-69. Universal Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-29, double-digit growth for ages 60+, flat activity for ages 30-39, and declines for ages 40-59, in the double digits for ages 50-59. Whole Life saw double-digit YOY growth for ages 60+, flat activity for ages 0-29 and ages 50-59, and double-digit declines for ages 30-49. On a YTD basis, all product types saw growth, in the double digits for Term Life and Universal Life.

Methodology Change for 2026:

MIB has revised our methodology to fine tune our age and face amount bands to better meet industry needs, while also incorporating more precise filtering to isolate new business application activity and define applicant country. Please see the main MIB Life Index page on our website for details on our methodology change. All historical data in this report has been restated based on our new methodology, however, historical reports archived on our website reflect the methodology in place at the time of publication.