Canada Life Insurance Review: 2025 Update

Is Canada Life life insurance good?

One of the largest life insurance companies in Canada, the Canada Life Assurance Company has over 175 years of history and a network of more than 37,000 advisors behind it. It boasts an “A+” rating for financial strength from A.M. Best and a large selection of insurance products.

But is it one of the best life insurance companies in Canada? That’s a little less clear. Canada Life’s life insurance rates are competitive, but its customer service reviews aren’t so positive, and we’re not a fan of its permanent policy design.

Our expert take

Canada Life offers the two main types of life insurance: term and permanent. Of the two, we prefer term life insurance because it’s generally more affordable, carries fewer unnecessary inclusions, and matches the longevity of most financial obligations.

Canada Life provides fairly standard term life insurance with above-average coverage limits, average pricing, and below-average customer service. However, if you need coverage for end-of-life expenses, estate planning, or a tax-free inheritance, it also offers universal and whole life insurance policies.

Canada Life’s permanent policies seem to be designed for high-net-worth individuals, with high coverage limits, participating dividends, and accelerated payment options. If your health changes and you want to convert your term policy, be prepared to maintain at least $100,000 of permanent life insurance coverage for the rest of your life.

It might be tricky, because participating dividends usually raise your life insurance premiums, and unlike shares, you can’t sell your life insurance policy. Your coverage will lapse if you miss even a single payment, and you could lose all of your accumulated value, which is probably why almost 88% of universal policies never pay out.

We can’t fault Canada Life’s success–its participating account is the largest in Canada–but we wish it offered non-participating life insurance such as term 100.

Canada Life insurance products at a glance

All in all, Canada Life offers four life insurance plans, arranged below from most to least recommended:

Pros

Cons

How much does Canada Life insurance cost?

We analyzed hundreds of quotes from two Canada Life insurance products, My Term and Universal Life, and found they stick close to the industry average. 

Canada Life term life insurance cost

Here’s a preview of what your term life insurance cost would be, if you applied for $500,000 in coverage under My Term:

^{* For $500,000 of coverage for a female non-smoker between the ages of 30-44 across a term length of 10-30 years}

^{** Compared to the average monthly cost of $500,000 of coverage for a female non-smoker between the ages of 30-44 and across a term length of 10-30 years and 26 term life insurance products.}

Canada Life permanent life insurance cost

As for permanent insurance, Canada Life’s Universal Life policy again dances around the industry average:

^{* For  $50,000 of coverage for a female non-smoker between the ages of 30-44}

^{** Compared to the average monthly cost of $50,000 of coverage for a female non-smoker between the ages of 30-44 across 9 universal life insurance products.}

About pricing comparisons

To ensure fairness and accuracy, all pricing comparisons were made within identical product types and demographic segments. For instance, a 10-year term policy for non-smoking women aged 18-29 with $500,000 in coverage was compared to the average pricing for all other 10-year term policies meeting the same criteria.

Canada Life life insurance reviews

Policyholders have mixed opinions on Canada Life. While this is one of the top 5 term life insurance providers in Canada, the company ranks poorly for customer service and has a middling industry reputation. 

Positive Canada Life Insurance reviews:

• “When my mother passed away from ALS, Canada Life was very easy to deal with and accommodating. They worked with my brother and me to get an advanced payment based on her diagnoses and the expected time left. She ended up passing away before we received the advance payment but their representative helped us get full payment instead of the advanced payment when the time came.”
• “They were very nice and helped me throughout and they paid the life insurance within a month...I would recommend this company.”

Negative Canada Life Insurance reviews:

• “Don't even try to phone them. Unbelievable wait time... gave up. With non-service like this, think again about buying life insurance with them.”
• “I have been trying to change the beneficiary on my life insurance policy. I have tried to talk to two different advisors (this has taken so long that my advisor has changed). Only get answering machines. Leave messages, no one ever calls me back. Now it’s been SEVEN months - still no results!”
• “With a wait of more than 2-3 hours to get to any representative, if you are lucky. No reply to emails or escalations. They have no accountability.”

Canada Life vs PolicyMe life insurance

^{* For $500,000 of coverage for a female non-smoker between the ages of 30-44  across a term length of 10-30 years.}

If your first priority is to provide your dependents with affordable financial protection, PolicyMe provides some of the most cost-effective coverage on the market. 

Plus, PolicyMe life insurance offers $10,000 of complimentary coverage per child with every policy, and a 10% first-year couple’s discount when you apply together.

FAQs

^{*** The life insurance premium rates in this article are based on publicly available figures as of November 2025}