Insurance department
Your income is your largest asset. Protect it.
If you lost your ability to work for a year — or five years — could your household keep running? Disability insurance is the plan that answers that question, and for most working Canadians it's the first coverage that should be examined.
Why disability coverage matters more than it sounds
The numbers are consistent across studies: over a working lifetime, you're statistically far more likely to become disabled than to die. And the financial pattern is unforgiving — the person who generates the income is exactly the person who stops generating it, while every expense in the household continues at the same time.
Sick leave and short-term benefits cover the first weeks and months. Long-term disability benefits often start after a waiting period, pay a percentage of income (commonly 60–67%, often with caps), and can stop at a fixed age. The space between "what I need" and "what I'd receive" is the gap this coverage is designed to close.
Key takeaways
- Group LTD is real protection — but it usually has a cap, a waiting period, and an end date (often retirement age).
- It doesn't grow with your raises, so the gap widens the more successful you become.
- Business owners and the self-employed usually have no group plan at all — individual coverage has to do everything.
Employees & professionals
- Find out what your group plan actually pays: the percentage, the cap, the waiting period, the definition of disability
- Decide whether the gap between your expenses and your benefit is worth closing
- Remember the benefit often stops at 65 — plan the stretch to retirement
The income-protection calculator walks through this exact gap, line by line.
Business owners & the self-employed
- No employer, no group LTD, no severance — your own policy is the entire plan
- Owner income is often "complicated" (salary + draw + investment returns), and policies need to be matched to the right number
- The business may also need key-person coverage — two different problems, two different answers
This is one of the areas where planning early matters most, because underwriting gets harder the longer you wait.
Planning considerations
The questions that shape the right answer
Disability planning isn't one product. It's a set of questions about your income, your benefits, and your timeline.
- What would your household actually need? Essential expenses first — the mortgage, food, basics — then the lifestyle you've built.
- What do you already receive? Group LTD, short-term benefits, a spouse's income, savings that could be drawn — all of it reduces the gap.
- How long should coverage run? To retirement? To when the kids are independent? The end date changes the cost significantly.
- How is "disability" defined? Own-occupation vs. any-occupation definitions change when benefits start and stop — this is the fine print worth reading.
Approval depends on underwriting. Health history matters. We'll explain what the process looks like and what's realistic before you commit — no application without a clear expectation.
Disability FAQ
Common questions
I have disability coverage at work — do I need more?
Possibly. Group plans typically replace 60–67% of salary up to a cap, with a waiting period before long-term benefits begin, and many stop at retirement age. If your expenses would exceed what the plan pays, or you'd like coverage that continues to a later age or grows with your income, the gap can be worth closing. The calculator shows the arithmetic with your numbers.
What's the difference between short-term and long-term disability?
Short-term disability (STD) covers the early months after a claim, often at a higher percentage of income. Long-term disability (LTD) takes over after the STD period ends — sometimes after an elimination period of 90 to 180 days — and typically pays a lower percentage up to a cap. The two work together, and the waiting period between them is where many people find themselves uncovered.
I'm self-employed. How does this work for me?
You'll be looking at individual disability income insurance. The main questions are what income number the policy will be based on (your draw, your salary, a blended figure), what "disability" means for your specific occupation, and how far into the future the coverage should run. It's a more involved conversation than group coverage — which is exactly why it's worth doing deliberately.
Keep exploring
Related services
Life Insurance
The other half of household protection — for when the risk is permanent, not temporary.
Explore life insuranceCritical Illness Insurance
The lump sum for serious diagnoses where disability benefits may be slow — or unavailable.
Explore critical illnessIncome Protection Calculator
Measure your actual gap: target income, existing benefits, and what's missing.
Open the calculatorFind out what your plan actually pays
Most people have never read their long-term disability policy. Let's change that — we'll map exactly what you'd receive and where the gaps are.