Canadian life insurance application activity returned to growth in May 2023 with Year-over-Year (YOY) activity up +8.7% compared to May 2022. On a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis, activity through May 2023 was up +2.7% compared to May 2022. On a Month-Over-Month (MOM) basis, May 2023 activity saw a growth of +9.0% compared to April 2023.

May saw Year-Over-Year (YOY) growth for all age bands, in the double digits for ages 61+. Activity for ages 0-30 was up +3.8%, ages 31-50 up +8.8%, ages 51-60 up +8.0%, ages 61-70 up +13.1%, and ages 71+ up +55.7% (however it is important to note that ages 71+ contribute to only 3% of total Canadian applications). On a YTD basis, ages 31+ saw growth, in the double digits for ages 71+, while ages 0-30 saw declining activity.

May saw flat activity YOY for amounts over $250K up to and including $500K, and growth for all other face amounts, in the double digits for amounts over $1M up to and including $5M. On a YTD basis, amounts up to and including $500K showed declining activity, and amounts over $500K were at growth, in the double digits for amounts over $1M.

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

When examining activity patterns where a product type was submitted to MIB, Universal Life saw double-digit growth YOY in May, Whole Life saw growth, and Term Life saw double-digit declines. When including age bands, Universal Life saw YOY growth for ages 0-50, declines for ages 51-60, double-digit growth for ages 61-70, and triple-digit growth for ages 71+. Whole Life saw flat activity YOY for ages 0-30 and ages 61-70, growth for all other ages bands. Term Life showed YOY declines for ages 0-70, in the double digits for ages 0-50 and 61-70, and double-digit growth for ages 71+.

About 37% of total Life Index volume for Canada in May 2023 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 can have a significant impact on the Canadian analysis. Growth varies when looking solely at submissions identified as Life Insurance products, with activity for Canada down -3.0% YOY in May 2023 and down -7.3% YTD.