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Free tool / Canadian dollars

Income replacement calculator

Estimate the money needed to cover a monthly household shortfall over time.

All amounts in Canadian dollars. Leave any field blank if it does not apply to you; blanks count as 0.

What your family would still need each month after remaining income and benefits. Consider take-home income and ongoing expenses.

How long the monthly support would be needed.

Optional. Exclude funds already assigned to debts, final expenses or other needs.

Your planning estimate

A clearer starting point.

Enter your numbers and select Calculate. Your result will appear here, with a breakdown.

An educational estimate, not a premium quote or approval decision. No inflation or investment returns are modelled.

How this estimate works

Monthly household income shortfall × 12 × years of support − savings allocated to support.

If available resources exceed the costs entered, the result is zero. It never becomes a negative coverage amount.

A worked example

Illustrative example: $2,000 monthly shortfall × 12 months × 10 years − $40,000 allocated savings = $200,000 estimated support need. This does not include paying off debts or final expenses.

What to keep in mind

Only count each cost and each source of money once. Use amounts that reflect your household, rather than treating the example as a recommendation. Revisit your estimate when your circumstances change.

These tools do not model inflation, investment returns, taxes or insurance underwriting. Actual needs and available coverage can differ. Existing insurance may have exclusions, waiting periods or expiry dates. An advisor can help you understand these limits.

Source and approach

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains the purposes of life insurance, including income replacement, dependent support, funeral expenses and debts. We use those categories in our own simple needs-minus-resources formulas. FCAC's former toolkit worksheet is currently offline. The agency has not endorsed these calculators.