Insurance department
Life insurance sized to your real obligations
Life insurance exists for one reason: if you were gone, the people and the debts that depend on your income keep going. Here's how coverage is actually sized, what to weigh, and where business owners should think differently.
What life insurance actually does
A life insurance policy pays a lump sum — the death benefit — to the people you name as beneficiaries if you die. Some policies also pay early if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness. The benefit can be used for anything: carrying the mortgage, funding education, replacing the income your family was counting on.
There are two broad structures, and the difference matters:
- Term life insurance covers a set period — 10, 20, 30 years. It's typically the most affordable way to carry a large amount of coverage while your obligations are largest (young family, big mortgage), which is why most needs analyses land on term.
- Permanent life insurance (whole or universal life) lasts your whole life and accumulates cash value. It costs substantially more per dollar of coverage, which makes sense for specific situations — estate planning, a lifelong obligation — rather than as a default.
Key takeaways
- The right amount of coverage is a calculation, not a guess: income support + debts + goals − what you already have.
- Most obligations shrink over time (a mortgage pays down), which is why many families' coverage needs do too.
- Group life through an employer is real coverage, but it's usually small and disappears with the job.
Why families carry it
Sized to the people your income stands up for
A needs analysis starts with one question: if your income stopped tomorrow, which obligations would your family carry on its own? The mortgage, the education fund, a partner's career pause, a parent's support — each one is a number, and together they tell you how much coverage is defensible.
- Coverage that tracks your obligations — largest when the mortgage is new and the kids are small, smaller as debts pay down
- A written needs analysis you can defend, not a multiple-of-income rule of thumb
- Business-owner structures — key-person, buy-sell funding, corporate-owned — handled in the same conversation
Families and households
- One income carrying a mortgage, childcare, and daily expenses
- Children's education that needs to stay funded
- A spouse or partner who delayed their career for the family
- Caring for a parent or dependent who relies on you
If your household would struggle to make its payments without your income, that's the core question life insurance answers.
Business owners
- Key-person insurance: the business carries coverage so a founder's loss doesn't also hit revenue, credit lines, and lender confidence
- Buy-sell funding: pre-funding a partner's right to buy your share, so the family gets paid and the business keeps going
- Corporate-owned life insurance and benefit structures that support employees and succession
For owners, the death benefit often has a second job: protecting the company, not just the household.
Common reasons people carry coverage
Income replacement
The biggest piece for most families. How many years would the household need your income to keep running, and what would the surviving income be?
Mortgage and debt
Keeping the home out of the family's hands. Coverage that at least covers the balance, ideally with a few years of payments on top.
Education funding
Post-secondary costs that a family should not be forced to renegotiate in a crisis — a specific, knowable number to plan around.
Final expenses
Funeral and settlement costs that would otherwise land on whoever is left, on top of everything else.
Coverage considerations, in plain language
How much?
A needs-analysis approach adds up your specific numbers: the income gap, debts, education, final expenses — then subtracts what you already have (savings set aside for the family, existing policies). The needs calculator runs this exact logic so you can see the arithmetic.
Term or permanent?
If your obligations are temporary (a 25-year mortgage, kids to a certain age), term is usually the efficient answer. Permanent coverage makes sense when the obligation is genuinely lifelong. This is a judgment call we'll walk through with you.
What do you already have?
Group life at work, an old policy you forgot about, a partner's coverage — all of it reduces what you actually need. Undersizing is cheap and fine; oversizing by a million dollars isn't.
Cost and health
Pricing depends on age, health, and the type of coverage. Some policies can be obtained with simplified underwriting. We'll be straight with you about what the trade-offs are before anything is applied for — approval is never guaranteed.
Privacy note: if you'd like a specific quote, you'll go through underwriting with an insurer. We'll explain what that process involves before you commit to anything — and you don't have to proceed.
Run the numbers
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Life insurance FAQ
Common questions
How much life insurance does a family usually need?
There's no standard amount — it's personal math. A typical Canadian household might need anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to well over a million, depending on income, debts, and dependants. Our needs calculator walks through the arithmetic with your own numbers so you can see where the figure comes from.
Do I still need life insurance if my spouse earns the same as me?
Often, yes — but the math looks different. When both incomes carry the household, the question is whether the surviving income can cover the mortgage, the kids' needs, and the family's standard of living. If the answer is "tight" or "not really," coverage on the higher earner (or both) is usually worth having.
What's the difference between term and permanent life insurance?
Term covers a set period and is the most affordable way to carry a large benefit — it fits temporary obligations like a mortgage. Permanent coverage lasts your life and builds cash value, at a much higher cost per dollar. The right answer depends on whether your obligations are temporary or lifelong, which is exactly what a planning conversation establishes.
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Tell us your situation and we'll walk you through the coverage question — with the numbers, in plain language. No pressure, no obligation.