Compare 30 Best Life Insurance Companies in Canada – December 2023

The best life insurance companies in Canada include Manulife, Canada Life, Desjardins, Empire Life, BMO, RBC, and more.

These companies each have different features that can benefit you best depending on what kind of protection you need.

That’s why we’ve rated the best providers in several different categories to bring you our list of the Top 30 Best Life Insurance Companies in this article.

List of Top 30 Best Life Insurance Companies In Canada – December 2023

After careful research, PolicyAdvisor.com has created a list of the 30 Best Life Insurance Companies in Canada based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Our experts have years of experience profiling and analyzing the best of what the industry has to offer. This gives us the unique opportunity to give real insight on different life insurance providers and how they can meet your needs.

Our Top-Rated Canadian Life Insurance Companies

Best Life Insurance for Simplified Issue: Assumption Life

Our Assumption Life rating:

We’ve given Assumption Life Insurance Company 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for Simplified Issue because of their wide variety of flexible options.

Assumption Life overview:

Assumption Life has 4 different types of non-medical life insurance policies that don’t require you to do a medical exam. This is a great option for people who may have health issues.

Their life policies also give you flexibility. You can get bigger amounts of life insurance if you want to get full underwriting that looks at factors like your medical history and your finances.

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Best Life Insurance for Combo Coverage: Beneva

Our Beneva rating:

We’ve given Beneva 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for combo coverage because of their full suite of insurance products and life insurance riders.

Beneva overview:

Beneva Life Insurance is the powerhouse product of a merger between the Quebec-based life insurance companies SSQ Insurance and La Capitale.

If you want to get a lot of insurance from one place, you should consider Beneva. It has a Term Plus life insurance product that can be customized and has features like its Extreme Disability Benefit. This is a unique option in the Canadian insurance market.

Beneva also offers a variety of life insurance riders. These are like add-on plans you can get to give you more coverage. Their term life insurance can also be combined with other insurance products, like critical illness or disability insurance.

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Best Life Insurance for Affordability: BMO Insurance

Our BMO Insurance rating:

We’ve given BMO Insurance 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for affordability because most of their policies have good prices and can be used for multiple purposes.

BMO Insurance overview:

BMO’s term life insurance is a great option for individuals, couples, or business owners. Their prices are affordable and policies can be used for a lot of different things.

Term policies from BMO can cover mortgage payments and other debts, final expenses like funeral cost, and more. They can help someone provide for their family. Or, for a business owner, a term life policy can help protect a business and/or key employees.

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Best Life Insurance for Financial Strength: Canada Life

Our Canada Life Insurance rating:

We’ve given Canada Life Assurance Company 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for financial strength because they’re the biggest insurer in Canada, with billions in annual premiums.

Canada Life Insurance overview:

Canada Life is the country’s largest life insurance provider. It’s a member of the Power Financial Corporation group of companies, which also includes the Great-West Life Assurance Company.

With $396 billion in assets and a financial strength rating of A+ from A.M. Best, Canada Life is one of the most stable life insurers in the country.

Canada Life offers term life insurance with a wide variety of options, including life insurance riders that let you add a different type of life insurance to your plan.

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Best Life Insurance for Non-Medical Policies: Canada Protection Plan

Our Canada Protection Plan rating:

We’ve given Canada Protection Plan 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for No-Medical policies because of their range of high-quality insurance policies that do not ask you to do a medical exam.

Canada Protection Plan overview:

Canada Protection Plan is the best provider for life insurance policies without a medical exam, also called non-medical life insurance. The most common types of no medical insurance are simplified and guaranteed.

Canada Protection Plan is one of your best options for a simplified issue life insurance if you:

• Are having difficulty finding insurance
• Have been rejected for life insurance in the past
• Simply want to apply and get approved for life insurance quickly (such as if you want to quickly settle the terms of a divorce settlement)

Keep in mind: if you are in good health and you don’t mind taking a medical test or having a waiting period, you can probably get an insurance policy that costs less than no-medical.

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Best Life Insurance for Stability: Desjardins Insurance

Our Desjardins Insurance rating:

We’ve given Desjardins 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for stability because they’re a well-established company with a strong financial rating.

Desjardins overview: 

Desjardins is one of Canada’s biggest financial groups and is often ranked among the world’s 50 safest banks and financiers.

They have a few term life insurance options that can cover needs like helping your family keep their standard of living, helping to pay for your mortgage, or providing money for your children to go to college. Their term product also give you the usual benefits and features that are expected in the Canadian market.

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Best Life Insurance for Personalization: Empire Life

Our Empire Life rating:

We’ve given Empire Life 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for personalization because they let you choose from a wide range of options to create your perfect policy.

Empire Life overview:

Empire Life Insurance has a wide choice of products and term options to choose from. You can customize their insurance policies to create a term life plan that meets your exact needs. It’s flexible and affordable.

Empire Life Insurance has something they call the Solution series of term life insurance products. They have 10-year, 20-year, or 30-year terms and plus permanent insurance that covers you up to age 100.

They also have a product called an  annual renewable term (ART), where your life insurance lasts one year and you can renew it every year.

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Best Life Insurance for Families: Equitable Life

Our Equitable Life rating:

We’ve given Equitable Life 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for families because they make it easy for you to combine more than one policy on just one document.

Equitable Life Insurance overview:

Equitable Life of Canada is one of the country’s biggest mutual companies — some of its owners are also the people who have insurance with them. They have many affordable options for both term and permanent insurance.

Also, you can get both single and multi-life coverage in the same policy. This lets family members have their plans on the same contract so they don’t have to pay a lot of separate policy fees.

Having just one insurance contract with many plans on it lets you do something called “laddering”, where you only pay for coverage that you truly need.

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Best Life Insurance for Giving Back: Foresters Financial

Our Foresters Financial rating:

We’ve given Foresters Financial 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for giving back. Their term plans are straightforward but also have options to give you better coverage if your needs change.

Foresters Life Insurance overview:

Foresters Financial offers is a simple and straightforward term insurance product.

Many of their products also come with a unique perk: a charitable benefit feature where Foresters will donate to a charity of your choice on your behalf.

This is an excellent product if your financial needs change and you need insurance to match. Foresters also has optional riders to give you extra coverage.

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Best Life Insurance for Quick Issue Options: Humania

Our Humania Assurance rating:

We’ve given Humania Assurance 4 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for quick issue option because their plans are designed for you to be able to get a policy approved fast.

Humania Assurance overview:

Humania’s main term life insurance product is designed to make it easy for you to get approved. They don’t have as many requirements, and the policy is web-based and paper-free.

Most policies are insured on the spot (more than 65%) and in less than 45 minutes, with many completed in 15 minutes or less. You can this coverage for multiple terms, up to a maximum of 30 years or up until age 80.

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Best Life Insurance for Flexibility: Industrial Alliance

Our iA Financial Group rating:

We’ve given iA Financial Group 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance company for flexibility because their plans have options to customize even your term length, which is rare in the Canadian insurance market.

Industrial Alliance overview:

Industrial Alliance (iA) life insurance offers many customizable options with their term life policies. Their product called Pick-A-Term is the most unique. Like the name says, it lets you decide how long you want your coverage to last — anywhere between 10-40 years.

With this plan, you can match your term life insurance coverage with the specific number of years you have left to pay off debt (like your mortgage) or the number of years your children may need financial support.

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Best Life Insurance for Layering: ivari

Our ivari rating:

We’ve given ivari 3 stars and rated them as the best life insurance for layering because their suite of products makes it easy to create unique coverage plans that overlap.

Ivari Life Insurance overview:

ivari is an 80-year old insurance company that used to be a part of Transamerica Life. They offer a lot of different insurance products.

You can get term life policies from ivari on their own, or you can combine it with more terms or different types of insurance to create your own unique coverage plan. ivari’s term insurance is available in 10-, 20- or 30-year terms.

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Best Life Insurance for Digital Innovation: Manulife

Our Manulife rating:

We’ve given Manulife 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance for digital innovation. They’re one of Canada’s biggest insurers and one of the first companies to take more of the process online.

Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife) overview:

Manulife is one of the biggest insurers not just in Canada but on the entire planet. Size doesn’t always mean good quality. But Manulife is a leader in digital innovation in life insurance and their product is one of the best.

They were one of the first Canadian companies to send clients their insurance policies electronically, although a lot more companies are doing it now.

Their underwriting process uses complex analyses to approve people for up to $2 million in insurance coverage without asking them to do a medical exam.

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Best Life Insurance for Value For Money: RBC Insurance

Our RBC Insurance rating:

We’ve given RBC Insurance 5 stars and rated them as the best life insurance if you want value for money because they have some of the most competitive premiums in the Canadian life insurance market.

RBC overview:

RBC Insurance offers a best-in-class term life insurance product. And their prices are usually so good that they beat competition on cost alone.

Their policies let you choose different term lengths and coverage amounts, so you can customize your plan to match your needs.

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Not Recommended: CIBC Insurance

Our CIBC Insurance rating:

We’ve given CIBC Insurance 1 star because their products do not stack up to others in the market. We cannot recommend CIBC Insurance at this time. You can likely get the best life insurance policy for your needs from another company.

CIBC Life Insurance overview:

CIBC Insurance offers two simple term insurance products. But while it’s good that it’s simple, you can’t customize these term plans as much as you could with other companies. Plus, the premiums may be more expensive than with other companies.

As well, CIBC Insurance offers limited options for converting the policy once the term has ended.

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No Recommendation: TD Insurance

Our TD Insurance rating:

We’ve given TD Insurance 2 stars because their products do not have special features that make them stand out from the crowd. We do not have a recommendation. But we can recommend other providers for the best life insurance company for your needs.

TD Insurance overview: 

TD Insurance’s life insurance product offers a few choices for term life coverage. But there are no special features that make it stand out from the competition, so we cannot recommend it over other companies.

Their premiums also tend to cost more than their competitors charge. And their policies have limited options for customizing it to add more coverage or to perfectly match your needs.

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