How much does life insurance cost in Canada?
Monthly rates by age, smoking and coverage, and what sets your own price
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Key Takeaways
- Published examples: $250,000 of 20-year term for a healthy non-smoker runs from $14.75 to $69.30 a month at TD Insurance for ages 20 to 50, and Sun Life puts typical Canadian costs at $20 to $500 or more.
- Age, tobacco use and coverage amount all change the price. In TD's $250,000, 20-year example a 50-year-old male non-smoker pays about 3.6 times the premium of a 30-year-old.
- Permanent coverage costs more than term at equal coverage. A Sun Life example for a healthy 30-year-old male non-smoker shows around $155 a month for $250,000 of permanent coverage against about $25 for 25-year term.
- These are other insurers' examples, not Emma's prices. Your real number comes from an application.
- Compare the same face amount, term and riders. Cash value is not automatic: Emma's T100 has none and is non-participating.
How much does life insurance cost in Canada?
Life insurance in Canada typically costs about $20 to $500 or more a month, says Sun Life. For a healthy 30-year-old non-smoker, TD Insurance's published examples show $250,000 of 20-year term coverage at about $16 to $19 a month, depending on sex. Permanent coverage costs far more. These are other insurers' examples, not Emma's prices.
Your own price depends on your age, sex, tobacco use, health, coverage amount and type of contract. The tables below show what those factors do to a published premium, so you can sanity-check a quote. They assume good health, exclude discounts and may have changed since. Emma's own premiums come from an application and the personalized offer that follows it.
Emma's coverage is issued by Humania Assurance Inc. and distributed by Emma Services financiers Inc. The full conditions are in our policy specimen, which we publish openly.
How much does term life insurance cost per month by age?
TD Insurance publishes monthly premiums for its term plans. The table shows $250,000 of coverage on a 20-year term for a person in good health, with premiums calculated as of September 2026 and no discounts applied. We read the page on October 26, 2026.
| Age | Female non-smoker | Female smoker | Male non-smoker | Male smoker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | $14.75 | $18.90 | $18.17 | $30.60 |
| 30 | $15.73 | $25.20 | $19.03 | $35.10 |
| 40 | $23.30 | $57.60 | $27.82 | $73.80 |
| 50 | $48.95 | $117.00 | $69.30 | $189.00 |
Three things stand out. Age has the biggest effect in this table: a 50-year-old male non-smoker pays $69.30 a month, about 3.6 times the $19.03 paid at 30. Tobacco use raises the premium at every age, from $19.03 to $35.10 for a 30-year-old male and from $69.30 to $189.00 at 50. Women pay less than men in these examples at every age, for instance $15.73 against $19.03 for a non-smoker at 30. The premium stays level during the term and rises when the policy renews, because renewal is priced on your older age.
How much do coverage amount and term length change the price?
Both push the premium up. In TD Insurance's example, ten times the coverage ($1,000,000 against $100,000) costs about 4.6 times the premium on a 20-year term, and a 30-year term costs more than a 10-year term at every coverage amount.
| Coverage | 10-year term | 20-year term | 30-year term |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $10.80 | $12.60 | $16.20 |
| $250,000 | $16.20 | $19.03 | $28.80 |
| $500,000 | $28.80 | $33.56 | $54.00 |
| $1,000,000 | $43.37 | $57.50 | $90.00 |
The cheapest number is not automatically the right one. Choose the amount and the length from what you owe and who depends on you. Our guide on how much life insurance you need helps you size it before you compare prices.
How much does permanent life insurance cost compared with term?
Temporary coverage costs less at the same face amount because it can expire without ever paying a benefit. Permanent coverage is built to pay whenever death occurs, so the insurer prices for a claim that will happen. In one Sun Life example, a healthy 30-year-old male non-smoker may pay about $25 a month for $250,000 of 25-year term coverage, and around $155 a month for $250,000 of permanent coverage.
Emma offers both. Emma Term covers a period you choose at application, from 10 to 35 years in one-year steps, with issue ages of 18 to 80 and coverage from 50,000 to 5,000,000 CAD. It renews annually to age 80 without new evidence of insurability, and renewal premiums follow the schedule in the contract and rise with your attained age. Until age 65 you can convert it to a non-participating whole life policy without evidence of insurability, at a premium based on your attained age, the rates in effect and your risk class.
Emma T100 is the permanent option. Issue ages 18 to 80, coverage from 1,000 to 5,000,000 CAD, and level premiums payable until the policy anniversary nearest your 100th birthday. After that the coverage stays in force with no further premium. It is not renewable and not convertible.
| Element | Emma Term | Emma T100 |
|---|---|---|
| Length of coverage | The term you choose, 10 to 35 years | Lifetime |
| Premium behaviour | Level during the term, reset at each renewal on attained age | Level, payable to the anniversary nearest age 100 |
| Starting cost at equal coverage | Lower | Higher |
| Cash surrender value | None | None |
| Participating | No | No |
| Common use | Mortgage, debts, income replacement | Final expenses, estate, a legacy |
Cash value: the check that explains a large price gap
A lot of content online treats cash value as an automatic feature of permanent insurance. It is not. Some permanent products accumulate a surrender value, others accumulate none at all, and that single difference can explain why two permanent quotes for the same face amount look nothing alike.
Emma's T100 has no cash surrender value and is non-participating. The premium funds the death benefit, not a savings account inside the contract. If your goal is leaving a set amount to your family without paying for an accumulation component, that is a coherent choice. If your goal is a savings vehicle, you are looking for a different product, and whole life insurance is where that conversation starts.
What sets your premium?
Insurers sort applicants into risk classes defined in the contract. Age, sex, tobacco use and health form that class. On top of it, the coverage amount, the length of the contract and any optional rider (each carries its own premium) change what you pay. Health can also change the rate offered or the conditions attached to it. The AMF explains the factors that influence premiums in Québec if you want a regulator's view.
What is not covered by a life insurance contract?
Price is only half of a contract. The other half is what the insurer will not pay. Our contracts include the following limitations, among others.
- Suicide within the first two years following the effective date.
- A misrepresentation on the application, which can void the contract.
- Death resulting from a criminal act.
- Death during certain named high-risk activities, including mountaineering, ice climbing, scuba diving outside a resort setting, paragliding, parasailing, hang gliding, skydiving, bungee jumping, heli-skiing, off-piste skiing, off-trail snowmobiling, aviation other than commercial pilots, auto racing and kitesurfing.
A quote that ignores these is not cheaper. It is just less complete.
How do I compare two life insurance quotes?
- Same face amount, same term length, same riders. Change one and the comparison is meaningless.
- Check whether a cash value is included. It changes the price and the purpose of the contract.
- Ask when premiums stop and what happens at renewal, not only what the first payment is.
- Confirm whether the number is an estimate or a confirmed offer. An estimate can change once the insurer assesses your application.
- Read the exclusions in the specimen before you sign, not after a claim.
Frequently asked questions
How much does life insurance cost per month?
It depends on your age, sex, tobacco use, health, the amount and the contract. In the published TD Insurance examples above, $250,000 of 20-year term for a healthy non-smoker ranges from $14.75 a month (a 20-year-old woman) to $69.30 (a 50-year-old man), and Sun Life puts typical Canadian costs between $20 and $500 or more. Only an application gives you a number that is actually yours.
How much is a $1,000,000 life insurance policy per month?
In TD Insurance's published examples, $1,000,000 of 20-year term for a non-smoker costs $57.50 a month for a 30-year-old man and $42.30 for a 30-year-old woman. At 40 it is $89.03 for a man and $66.05 for a woman, and at 50 it is $239.62 and $160.88. Permanent coverage for the same amount costs considerably more.
How much is a $500,000 life insurance policy for a 60-year-old man?
The published examples we checked stop at age 50, so we cannot give a sourced figure for 60. At 50, TD Insurance's $500,000, 20-year term for a male non-smoker is $134.10 a month, and premiums keep rising with age. Ask for a personalized quote at your exact age.
What is the cheapest type of life insurance?
At equal coverage, temporary insurance generally costs less than permanent insurance, because it covers a defined period rather than a whole life. Cheapest is not the same as most suitable. If the need outlasts the term, a policy that expires is not a saving.
Does life insurance get more expensive as I get older?
Your rate is set from your age at application, and it stays level for the period covered by your contract. Applying later generally means a higher rate for the same coverage: in TD Insurance's example, a 40-year-old male non-smoker pays $27.82 a month for $250,000 of 20-year term, against $19.03 at 30. On a renewable term policy, renewal premiums follow the schedule in the contract and rise with your attained age.
Do I need a medical exam to get life insurance?
Every application includes health questions, since health is part of the risk class defined in the contract. Depending on your answers, your age and the amount requested, the insurer may ask for additional information. Emma also offers a permanent option with simplified eligibility for people whose health makes regular underwriting difficult. It has its own eligibility criteria and an initial benefit limitation: if death is related directly or indirectly to an illness within the first 24 months following the effective date or reinstatement, the insurer refunds the premiums paid instead of paying the face amount, subject to the conditions of the contract. Our page on no medical life insurance covers how that works.
Can I lower my premium later?
Reducing your coverage amount lowers the premium, and it is a common move once a mortgage is largely paid down. Your risk class is set at issue, so an improvement in health after issue does not automatically reduce what you pay on an existing contract. Talk to an advisor before cancelling anything that is in force.
Is the death benefit taxable?
The amount paid to your named beneficiaries is not taxable to them. That is one reason coverage is used in estate planning, and our life insurance overview goes through the main uses.
Get your own number
Published examples show the shape of the pricing, not your price. Your premium comes from your age, your sex, your tobacco use, your health, the coverage you choose and the contract behind it. The only way to know your real price is to complete an application and receive a personalized offer. You can do it yourself online or ask an advisor for help along the way.
Jacomo Deschatelets, CMO & Cofounder, Life Insurance Expert
Questions? Email us at editorial@emma.ca
Jacomo Deschatelets
Questions about this page? Email us at editorial@emma.ca
