One in Three Canadians Has No Life Insurance, Creating a Clear Role for Advisors

A new TD Insurance survey suggests that many Canadians are making major financial decisions without reviewing whether their life insurance coverage still meets their needs.

According to the research, 32% of Canadians surveyed do not have life insurance. The results also show that 42% of baby boomers and 32% of Generation X respondents—the generations closest to retirement—currently have no coverage.

For life insurance advisors and brokers, the findings highlight an important disconnect. Clients may reconsider their mortgage, retirement savings or household budget when their circumstances change, but life insurance is often left out of the conversation.

Buying a home, getting married, having a child, changing jobs and preparing for retirement can all materially change a person’s insurance needs.

However, 73% of Canadians surveyed said they had given more thought to other major financial decisions than to the amount of life insurance they might require. Among respondents without coverage, 46% could not identify a life event that would motivate them to consider purchasing it.

Younger Canadians were especially likely to view life insurance as something that could be addressed later. Fifty-six per cent of Generation Z respondents held that view, compared with 41% of respondents overall.

This creates an opportunity for advisors to introduce life insurance as part of a broader financial review rather than waiting for clients to raise the subject themselves.

A change in family responsibilities, debt, income or employment should prompt a reassessment of the amount of coverage required, the appropriate coverage period, existing personal and group insurance, beneficiary designations, the client’s ability to maintain premiums, and whether term or permanent insurance remains appropriate.

The objective is not automatically to recommend more insurance. It is to determine whether the client’s existing protection continues to match the financial consequences of death.

The survey identified workplace life insurance as another potential source of underinsurance.

Among Canadians with life insurance through work, 44% did not know how much coverage they had or were unsure whether it was sufficient. Another 34% said they had delayed purchasing or reviewing life insurance because they assumed their workplace benefits provided enough protection.

Group life insurance can provide valuable basic protection, but advisors should help clients understand its limitations. Coverage may be based on a multiple of salary, subject to a maximum benefit or reduced when the employee reaches a specified age.

Most importantly, group coverage is connected to the employment relationship. A career change, job loss or retirement may reduce or terminate the protection. Although conversion privileges may be available, they normally involve deadlines and specific conditions.

Advisors should therefore establish the amount of group coverage a client actually has, whether evidence of insurability was required for optional benefits and what would happen to the coverage if employment ended.

Among uninsured respondents, 35% identified cost as a barrier. Twenty-six per cent pointed to competing financial priorities, while 21% were unsure where to begin and 17% cited a lack of understanding.

These results reinforce the importance of a structured needs analysis. Rather than beginning with a product, an advisor can quantify the client’s exposure by examining final expenses and taxes, outstanding debts and mortgages, income replacement, education funding, emergency capital, existing savings and insurance, and the length of time each need will continue.

This process gives the recommendation a clear financial basis. It may also show clients that coverage can be prioritized according to the severity and duration of their needs.

Term insurance, for example, may provide substantial temporary protection at a lower initial premium than permanent insurance. Permanent coverage may be more appropriate for certain lifelong estate, tax, charitable or final-expense needs. The recommendation must reflect the client’s objectives, resources and ability to maintain the policy.

The TD findings arrive as Canadian life insurance application activity continues to grow. MIB reported that application activity increased 12.1% in August 2026 compared with August 2025 and was up 14.2% during the first eight months of the year.

Term application activity increased 31.2% year over year in August, while universal life activity rose 40.6%. Whole life activity declined 5% for the month, although all three product categories recorded double-digit growth on a year-to-date basis.

The figures indicate that consumer interest is healthy, but the TD survey shows that significant knowledge and coverage gaps remain.

For advisors and brokers, the practical lesson is that life insurance should not be treated as a one-time transaction. Regular reviews—particularly after changes in family, employment, debt or retirement plans—are essential to determining whether coverage continues to serve its intended purpose.

In Market Desk’s view, the most useful response to the survey is not a broader sales pitch. It is a better review process.

A client who has no coverage may have a genuine protection gap, or may have limited needs and competing priorities. A client with workplace coverage may be adequately protected, or may be relying on a benefit that is smaller and less portable than expected. The answer has to come from the client’s circumstances, not from the survey average.

Advisors create value when they make the invisible visible: the income a family would lose, the debts that would remain, the coverage already in place, the period of need and the trade-offs created by the available budget.

That is the difference between using a protection gap as a sales statistic and using it as a reason to have a responsible client conversation.

For consumers, the research is a prompt to verify what protection exists rather than assuming workplace benefits or an older policy still match current needs.

For advisors and brokers, it reinforces the importance of regular needs analysis, clear explanations and recommendations grounded in affordability and duration—not simply coverage volume.

For learners, it shows how needs analysis, suitability, group insurance, conversion privileges, beneficiary planning and product selection connect in a real client conversation.

The advisor’s role is not simply to sell a policy. It is to identify a financial risk, measure its potential impact and recommend suitable protection that the client understands and can maintain.