Term life insurance
Coverage for a set number of years. What happens at the end of the term, and the choices you get along the way.
6 articles in this section
Term insurance covers you for a set number of years. If you die during those years, the policy pays. If you are still alive at the end, it stops, and what happens next depends on choices you made when you bought it.
That last part causes most of the confusion. A term policy is not a single decision made once. It has a renewal price built into the contract, a conversion right with a deadline on it, and an end date that arrives faster than people expect. The pages below cover each of those.
New to this? Start with What term life insurance is, then come back for whichever question below is yours.
Start here
What term life insurance is
How term life insurance works in Canada, what 10, 20 and 30 year terms mean, and the two contract rights that decide what happens when the term ends.4 minChoosing a 10, 20 or 30 year term
How to match a term length to the obligation you are covering, why the cheapest term is often the most expensive over time, and when a mix works better.6 minConverting term to permanent
How term conversion works in Canada, why the deadline usually arrives before the term ends, and who benefits most from using the right.4 min
Everything else in term life insurance
What happens when your term ends
The four things that can happen when a Canadian term policy ends, what each one costs, and the decision to make before it arrives.4 minRenewing term coverage and why the price jumps
Why renewal premiums on Canadian term policies rise so sharply, what guaranteed renewability gives you, and when paying it is right.5 minUsing more than one term policy
Why holding several term policies with different lengths can cost less than one large one, how layering works in practice, and what it costs you in admin.4 min
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Talk it through with a licensed advisor
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