In 2026, insurers will have to find ways to insure more Canadians. Time is running out. Each year, the industry sells 100,000 fewer individual life insurance policies than in 2010. With the collaboration of LIMRA, the Insurance Portal has quantified the trend. In 2010, 733,941 policies were sold, compared to only 635,067 in 2024.
As a result of this decline, the rate of life insurance policies sold per 1,000 people in Canada fell from 21.7 to 15.3 between 2010 and 2024. Meanwhile, Canada's population grew from 33.8 million in 2010 to 41.5 million in 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
Individual life insurance sales in terms of new annualized premiums are following the opposite trajectory. They reached $2.0 billion in 2024, compared to $1.0 billion in 2010. Premiums sold in 2024 represent a 7% increase over the $1.9 billion in premiums earned in 2023.
The Canadian industry recognizes the decline. In an opinion piece published on the Insurance Portal, three experts summarized the challenge as follows: there is a growing gap in insurance coverage among Canadians. Among the three signatories is Scott Ife, who heads Manulife's individual insurance market intelligence team.
Also signing the opinion piece entitled Guest Column: Underinsured in Canada were Paul Mlodzik, Director of Member Relations, LIMRA and LOMA Canada and Abena Ntakrah, Assistant Vice President, New Initiatives, at Reinsurance Group of America (RGA).
According to the 2023 Canadian Insurance Barometer Study by LIMRA and Life Happens, 10% of adult Canadians need more coverage, representing 2.7 million people. In addition, 21% of adult Canadians have no insurance but say they need it, accounting for 5.7 million people.
Is this inevitable?
Insurance Journal Publishing Group’s (IJPG) platforms and publications are closely following this industry trend of increasingly turning away from the middle class in favor of wealthier customers.
On November 18, 2025, the Congrès de l’assurance de personnes (Life and Health Insurance Conference) devoted its opening panel discussion to this topic, entitled How to shape the future of life insurance distribution. Serge Therrien, President and Publisher of IJPG, presented the statistics behind the decline in policy sales and asked the panelists: Is this inevitable?
The panelists answered no. Annie Veillette, a leader in business development and talent management in the financial sector, insists: “It's not inevitable; the need is there.” Having worked for Canada Life for several years, she notes that the Canadian population is growing and that needs are greater: blended families, debts to protect with rising house prices, etc.
The panelists also highlighted factors that are slowing the growth of policy sales. These overlap with those mentioned by Therrien in a recent podcast. “There is a shortage of financial security advisors in Canada, and there is less coaching of advisors,” he says in this episode entitled From Journalism to Sustainable Impact, from the series Meilleur Humain Meilleur Monde, presented by Diversico Finances Humaines.
Serving the middle class
The Canadian industry abandoned the family market and the middle-class, mass market.
– Serge Therrien
During this podcast, Therrien also pointed out that for more than a decade, large companies have positioned themselves in the business and affluent markets. “Why? Because it's a market where premiums are higher,” he said.
"During those years, the Canadian industry abandoned the family market and the middle-class, mass market. If nothing is done, fewer and fewer Canadians will take out insurance," says Therrien.
Will the industry be able to break free from its dependence on wealthy clients and reach out more to everyday people? Boosted by sales of whole life insurance for estate planning or tax purposes, insurers' premium income has followed a trend opposite to that of policy numbers.
Large insurers also generate significant profits from the sale of mutual funds. The Big Four's wealth and asset management activities account for approximately 30% to 35% of their profits, writes Morningstar DBRS in its commentary 2026 Canadian Life Insurance Sector Outlook Neutral: Life Insurers Hold Steady, published on December 8, 2025.
Morningstar DBRS refers to the four major insurers in Canada: Manulife, Sun Life, Great-West Lifeco (Canada Life), and iA Financial Group. The financial and credit rating agency adds that these activities will continue to drive growth for them, both in Canada and abroad. What is fueling this growth, according to the agency? An aging population and growing demand for retirement planning.
However, the engine could slow down. Morningstar DBRS predicts that a shift toward safer, lower-cost fixed-income funds will put downward pressure on fee income in 2026, as both retail and institutional investors adopt a more cautious stance.
Turnaround or flash in the pan?
A LIMRA report revealed that the Canadian industry sold 513,921 individual life insurance policies from January 1 to September 30, 2025. This represents a 9% increase, said spokesperson Catherine Theroux to the Insurance Portal.
Insurers would have needed to sell more than 100,000 policies in the fourth quarter of 2025 to match the 2024 mark of 635,067 policies. At the time of writing, LIMRA had not yet provided Insurance Portal with its report for the last quarter of 2025.
To date, we can only speak of brief resurgences of this downward trend. After increasing in 2023, individual life insurance sales in Canada, measured by the number of policies sold, declined again in 2024.
However, other encouraging signs are on the horizon. MIB observed record life insurance application activity in 2025. The question is: how many of these insurance applications will have translated into policy sales by the end of 2025, and how many will in 2026? The Insurance Portal will continue to monitor this closely as the new year progresses.
