A new report from Sun Life shows that many Canadians on disability are living with more than one chronic health condition, a troubling trend they say is increasing the complexity of long-term disability (LTD) claims.
“The presence of two or more health issues often worsens the primary condition and makes disease management more complicated,” the company states. “Those with comorbidities often see a delay in returning to work and remain on claim longer than the average claim.”
They say mental disorders, circulatory disorders and cancer are the top three reasons for LTD. In breaking down the challenge of comorbidities, Sun Life says its analysis of more than 1.5 million people on LTD found that among circulatory LTD plan members, 35 per cent also submit drug claims to treat diabetes and 39 per cent also submit claims to treat mental disorders. Among cancer LTD plan members, 47 per cent have claims for cardiovascular conditions and 18 per cent submit drug claims to treat diabetes. Finally, among musculoskeletal LTD plan members, 49 per cent submit drug claims to treat mental disorders and 23 per cent also submit claims to treat diabetes.
Diabetes is a common thread
The company adds that members on LTD are two times more likely to claim for chronic disease related to a secondary condition than those not on LTD. “Diabetes is a common thread throughout many LTD claims and illustrates how chronic health conditions are overlapping,” they write, adding that plan members on LTD are almost three times more likely to have a diabetes drug claim. “Drug claims for diabetes are up 30 per cent from 2019 to 2023 across all claimants, not just LTD.”
According to the 2025 Designed for Health report, mental disorders remain the main driver of claims overall, representing almost 40 per cent of all claims in 2024. “What’s increased significantly are claims involving adjustment disorder,” they write, “a condition that involves a negative and excessive response to a stressful life event or change. It’s also known as stress response syndrome or situational depression.”
Anxiety disorders
Claims for mental health practitioners, meanwhile, have tripled since 2019. Diagnosis of depression and anxiety related disorders are also up 33 per cent and 50 per cent respectively since 2020. Cancer and circulatory claims have also risen, although they note that the trend is more modest relative to the increase in mental disorders. Musculoskeletal claims, meanwhile, continue to fall. “We don’t know the specific causes of this decline,” they write.
The report also looks at the claiming pattern differences between women and men and key differences between younger and older employees. They also note that the pattern of disability claims varies by industry, noting that the finance, insurance and real estate services sectors have the highest proportion of mental disorder claims overall.
