Canadian life insurance application activity fell in March, down 9.2 per cent when compared to March of 2021, and falling nine per cent on a year-to-date basis.

According to the MIB Life Index report on Canadian life insurance application activity from Massachusetts-based MIB Group Inc.,there was a spike in activity in March 2021. In 2022, March activity rose 6.2 per cent compared to the month before. Additionally, despite historical seasonal trends where the first-quarter activity is generally down compared to the fourth quarter, when comparing Q1-2022 to Q4-2021 activity was up 3.3 per cent.

All age groups showed year-over-year declines in March, in the double digits for ages 31-50. Q1-2022 saw similar patterns when compared to the same time last year, with year-to-date activity dropping across all age bands and double-digit declines for ages 31-50. However, on a month-over-month basis, activity is trending up with March 2022 at growth over February 2022 across all age groups and in double digits for ages 0-30.

Double-digit declines for amounts up to $500,000

March saw year-over-year growth for face amounts over $500,000 up to and including $5 million, flat activity for amounts over $5 million and double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500,000. When comparing quarterly activity by face amount, the first quarter of this year grew compared to the same time last year for face amounts over $500,000, in the double digits for face amounts between $1 million-$5 million, but double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500,000.

When examining age bands for the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year, ages 0-30 saw double-digit declines for face amounts up to and including $500,000 but double-digit growth for face amounts over that amount, and in the triple digits (more than 120 per cent) for amounts between $1 million-$2.5 million.

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life saw double-digit growth in March year-over-year of 17.8 per cent, while Term Life was down 8.6 per cent and Whole Life was down three per cent. Similarly, when comparing Q1-2022 to Q1-2021, Universal Life saw double-digit growth, while Whole Life and Term Life saw declines. When comparing Q1-2022 to Q1-2021 by age, Universal Life saw growth for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 31-70, and double digit declines for ages 71 and older. Term Life sales dropped for ages 0-60, were in the double digits for ages 31-50, and saw growth for ages 61 and over, as well as double digits for ages 71 and older.