Canadian life insurance application activity increased +3.3% Year-over-Year (YOY) in August 2022 compared to August 2021, reversing a pattern of YOY declines that began in July 2021. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through August 2022 remains down -9.3% compared to 2021. On a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, August 2022 activity saw a double-digit increase at +17.1% compared to July 2022.

August saw flat YOY activity for ages 31-50 and growth across all other age bands. Activity for ages 0-30 was up +6.9%, ages 31-50 flat at +0.5%, ages 51-60 up +4.7%, ages 61-70 up +5.2%, and ages 71+ up +2.8%.

When examining activity by face amount, August saw YOY declines for amounts up to and including $250K and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $500k. When including age bands, ages 0-30 saw growth for face amounts up to and including $5M, in the double digits for face amounts over $500K up to and including $5M, and double-digit declines for face amounts over $5M. Ages 31-50 saw declines for amounts up to and including $500k and growth for all other categories, in the double digits for amounts over $1M. Ages 51-60 saw declines for amounts up to and including $250K and growth across all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $500k up to and including $1M and amounts over $2.5M. Ages 61-70 saw declines for amounts up to and including $250K, flat activity for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M, and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $250K up to and including $2.5M. Ages 71+ saw double-digit declines for amounts over $500k up to and including $1M and for amounts over $2.5M up to and including $5M and growth for other face amounts, in the double digits amounts over $250K up to and including $500k, amounts over $1M up to and including $2.5M and amounts over $5M.

While all product types saw increased activity in August, the majority of growth was seen for Universal life. When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life was up +56.1% YOY, Whole Life up +9.1%, and Term Life was flat at +1.3%. When examining age bands, Universal Life saw double-digit YOY growth for ages 0-70 and double-digit declines for ages 71+. Whole Life saw growth for ages 0-50 and ages 71+, with double-digit growth for ages 0-30 and ages 71+, and flat activity for all other age bands. Term Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-30 and ages 51-70, and flat activity for the remaining age bands.

About 29% of 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 presented in this report. Missing product type information has a significant impact on the Canadian analysis. Growth varies when looking solely at submissions identified as Life Insurance products, up +11.5% YOY for Canada in August 2022 and flat at -2.0% YTD.

NOTE: Due to frequent missing information regarding the applicant’s country of residence, effective June 2021 we are now identifying Canadian activity based on the company country.