Canadian life insurance application activity being reported by the MIB Group Inc. in the group’s monthly MIB Life Index shows flat application activity in August on a year-over-year basis while application activity on a year-to-date basis continued to grow.  

In August, application activity declined one per cent year-over-year. Year-to-date activity increased 5.9 per cent when compared to August 2023. Month-over-month August activity increased 1.9 per cent when compared to July 2024 figures.  

Where a product type was submitted to the firm, universal life policy applications grew while whole life and term life applications declined. “When including age bands, universal life saw year-over-year growth for ages zero to 50 and 61+, in the double digits for 71+ and declines for ages 51 to 60. Term life saw year-over-year declines for all age bands. Whole life saw year-over-year growth for ages 71+, flat activity for ages 31 to 50 and 61 to 70, and declines for all other age bands,” the report concludes.  

They add that about 33 per cent of the total life index volume for Canada in August 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,” they state. “Missing product type information can have a significant impact on the Canadian analysis.” When looking at submissions actually identified as life insurance products, activity is down 2.1 per cent year-over-year and up 8.1 per cent, year-to-date.  

Growth in older age bands 

Notably, only those over age 61 appeared to be applying for insurance during the month, with MIB reporting growth in application activity among those over age 61, in the double digits for those over age 71 and flat for all other age bands. Notably, year-to-date figures show application activity for those over age 71 up 70 per cent this year when compared to 2023 figures.  

Year-over-year activity for those between ages zero and 30 declined 5.2 per cent while activity for those over age 71 increased 11.6 per cent. “It is interesting to note that ages 71+ has shown double or triple year-over-year growth each month since April 2023,” they state. “However, the rate of growth has been decreasing each month.”