Non-Medical Life Insurance
Essential coverage — without the medical exam.
If you've been declined before, have a pre-existing condition, or simply want coverage in place quickly, non-medical life insurance is built for you. There's no medical exam — approval is based on a short set of health questions, or in some cases no questions at all.
I'll match you to the right type of no-exam coverage and the insurer most likely to approve you, so you get protection without the wait or the paperwork.
What this coverage gives you
No medical exam
Skip the bloodwork and appointments — answer a few questions and get a decision quickly.
Simplified issue
A handful of health questions, faster approval, and meaningful coverage amounts.
Guaranteed issue
Acceptance regardless of health for those who've had trouble qualifying elsewhere.
Great for final expenses
A practical way to cover funeral costs and small debts so loved ones aren't burdened.
Who it's for
- People with pre-existing conditions
- Anyone previously declined for coverage
- Seniors seeking final-expense cover
- Those who want coverage in place fast
- People who'd rather avoid a medical exam
Non-Medical Life Insurance questions
How long should I keep a no-medical policy?
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Only as long as it is the best option available to you. If you bought simplified or guaranteed issue because a condition had not stabilised, reassess once it has — fully underwritten coverage may become available at a substantially lower cost per dollar. Set a reminder for two years out. The one rule that never changes: never cancel existing coverage until the replacement policy is issued and confirmed in force, because approval is not the same as active.
Is non-medical insurance more expensive?
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It can cost more per dollar of coverage because the insurer takes on more unknowns. But for many people it's the difference between having protection and having none — and I'll find the most competitive option available to you.
How fast can I be covered?
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Simplified-issue policies can often be approved in days rather than weeks. Some guaranteed-issue plans are effective almost immediately, subject to the policy terms.
How much coverage can I get?
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Amounts vary by product and insurer — simplified issue generally offers higher limits than guaranteed issue. I'll show you the options that fit your needs and budget.
What is the difference between simplified issue and guaranteed issue?
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Simplified issue asks a short list of health questions and no exam. Guaranteed issue asks none at all, but usually pays only a refund of premiums if death from illness happens in the first two years. Simplified issue is usually the better value if you can qualify.
Can I be declined for non-medical insurance?
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Simplified-issue plans can decline you if you answer yes to certain questions. Guaranteed-issue plans accept anyone in the eligible age range. I'll help you go through the questions honestly before you apply, so there are no surprises.
Who is non-medical insurance a good fit for?
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People with a recent diagnosis, a condition that hasn't stabilized, those who need coverage fast, or anyone who has been declined elsewhere. If you're healthy, a fully underwritten policy will usually cost less.
Is non-medical coverage honest about claims?
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Yes, as long as the application is answered accurately. Claims are paid under the policy terms. The risk comes from wrong answers, which can let the insurer deny a claim, so I go through every question with you.
Declined before? One insurer’s answer is not the market’s answer
The single most useful thing to understand about health and life insurance in Canada is that underwriting is not standardised. Insurers set their own guidelines from their own claims experience, and those guidelines differ dramatically by condition.
I have had clients arrive convinced they were uninsurable because the company their bank referred them to said no. In several cases another insurer offered standard or near-standard rates. A decline is one company’s assessment, not a verdict.
| Route | Health assessment | Relative cost | Coverage available | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fully underwritten | Application, exam, bloodwork, often doctor’s records | Lowest | Highest limits | Weeks |
| Simplified issue | A short set of health questions, no exam | Middle | Moderate limits | Days |
| Guaranteed issue | No health questions at all | Highest | Lowest limits | Fastest |
Guaranteed issue: understand the waiting period
Guaranteed issue policies accept everyone within an eligible age range, and almost always carry a waiting period — commonly two years — during which death from natural causes returns your premiums, often with interest, rather than paying the full death benefit. Accidental death is typically covered from day one.
This is not a trick. It is the only way an insurer can accept applicants without any health information. But it must be understood before buying, not discovered at claim time.
How common conditions are actually viewed
Broad patterns only — every case turns on its specifics, and nothing here is a promise about your application:
- Controlled hypertension — frequently standard rates. Very common and well understood.
- Type 2 diabetes — often insurable, with the outcome driven by control, duration and whether complications exist.
- Cancer history — depends heavily on type, stage and years since treatment. Many become insurable at or near standard rates after a sufficient clear period.
- Mental health conditions — treated far more reasonably than a decade ago. Well-managed depression or anxiety is frequently standard.
- Sleep apnea — usually favourable if treated and compliant with therapy.
- Elevated BMI — a common cause of ratings, and one of the areas where insurers differ most.
What actually helps an application
Evidence of control. A condition that is well managed and documented is viewed very differently from one that is untreated or erratic. Recent results showing stability genuinely move the outcome.
Complete disclosure. Material misrepresentation can void a policy, and Canadian policies generally allow the insurer to contest a claim within the first two years. A policy voided at claim time is worse than no policy, because you paid for it and your family planned around it.
Time. If you are recently diagnosed or recently treated, waiting until the condition stabilises can substantially improve the offer. Sometimes the right advice is simplified-issue coverage now and a fully underwritten application in a year or two.
Declines are recorded and visible to other insurers, and a pattern of them makes subsequent applications harder. The right approach is an informal enquiry with the insurers most likely to view your situation favourably, then one formal application to the best fit. This is the single most practical reason to work through a broker rather than applying directly.
If you already hold a term policy
Check whether it is convertible. A conversion privilege lets you move to permanent coverage without new medical evidence — and if your health has changed since you bought it, that option may be the most valuable thing you own. It typically expires before the term itself does, so find the deadline before you need it.
Applying without a Canadian medical history
Underwriting relies on records an insurer can obtain. When those records are in another country, the process changes — and the sequence you follow makes a real difference to the outcome.
Insurers differ enormously on newcomers
Some will not consider an applicant until they have been in Canada a set period. Others assess from arrival provided you have permanent residence or a valid work permit. Some accept applications from study permit holders; many do not.
Immigration status is one of the areas where carrier appetite varies most, and it changes over time. It is also the reason a decline from the first company someone walks into tells you very little about the market.
| Status | Typical availability | What usually helps |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian citizen | Full market | — |
| Permanent resident | Most insurers, often from arrival | PR card, Canadian address, SIN |
| Work permit | Many insurers, some after a waiting period | Permit with meaningful time remaining, employment record |
| Study permit | Limited; fewer insurers participate | Longer permits, established residence |
| Visitor | Generally not eligible for life insurance | Visitor or Super Visa medical cover instead |
The medical history gap
Fully underwritten coverage usually involves a request to your doctor for records. A newcomer with a Canadian doctor for six months has a thin file, and one still waiting for a family doctor may have none at all.
That does not mean you are uninsurable — it means underwriting leans more heavily on the paramedical exam and on what you disclose. Two things genuinely help: register with a family doctor as early as you can, and bring what records you have from home, translated if necessary. A documented history of a well-controlled condition is viewed far more favourably than an undocumented one.
Where a health condition is already known
Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions are common reasons for a rating, and both are areas where insurers differ sharply. What moves the outcome is evidence of control — recent test results showing stability, consistent medication, documented follow-up. A condition that is well managed and well documented is a very different application from one that is not.
If your records are from outside Canada, getting them translated and organised before applying is worth the effort. It is the single most useful thing an applicant with a managed condition can do.
A decline is recorded and visible to other insurers, and a pattern of them makes each subsequent application harder. The right approach is an informal enquiry with the insurers most likely to view your situation favourably — status, health history and all — then one formal application to the best fit.
This is the most practical reason to work through a broker rather than applying directly to whichever company advertised to you.
The timing point most people miss
Insurability is easiest to secure when you are young and healthy, which for most newcomers is now. Waiting until you have "settled" often means applying five years later at a higher age, possibly with a condition that has developed in the meantime. If you can obtain coverage in your first year or two here, that is generally the cheapest it will ever be.
Five situations where no-medical coverage is the right answer
And how much you can realistically expect to get in each.
1. A recent diagnosis that has not yet stabilised
Insurers want to see a condition settled before offering standard terms. If you were diagnosed six months ago, a fully underwritten application now may produce a heavy rating or a decline that goes on record. Simplified issue can bridge the gap, and you reapply once the condition has a track record.
Treat it as temporary. Diarise a review; do not pay bridge pricing for twenty years.
2. Coverage needed before a specific date
A mortgage closing, a business loan requiring collateral assignment, a separation agreement obliging you to hold insurance. Full underwriting takes weeks and cannot be rushed. Simplified issue in days meets the deadline, and can be replaced later.
3. Final expenses where the amount is modest
If the need is genuinely $15,000–$30,000 to cover a funeral, final bills and probate costs, full underwriting may be more process than the amount justifies. This is the classic guaranteed issue use case — but check the waiting period, because that is precisely the scenario where a two-year exclusion bites.
4. Newcomers without Canadian medical history
Fully underwritten coverage often depends on records an insurer can obtain. Someone who arrived recently may have little Canadian medical history, which slows underwriting even when they are perfectly healthy. Simplified issue can be faster, and full coverage becomes available once a Canadian record exists.
5. A genuine dislike of the process
Some people will not do a paramedical exam, and a policy they will actually buy beats a cheaper one they keep deferring. That is a legitimate reason, provided you know you are paying for the convenience.
| Route | Typical maximum | Decision time | Waiting period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fully underwritten | Highest — often into the millions | Weeks | None |
| Simplified issue | Moderate | Days | Usually none |
| Guaranteed issue | Lowest | Fastest | Commonly two years |
The question worth asking first
Before assuming you need no-medical coverage, it is worth an informal enquiry about whether you would qualify for something better. Insurers differ enormously by condition, and a great many people who expect to be declined are not. That enquiry costs nothing and does not go on record the way a formal declined application does.
What the application looks like, and what happens next
Knowing the sequence removes most of the reason people put this off.
The questions you will be asked
Simplified issue applications are typically one or two pages. They ask about hospitalisation in recent years, current medications, whether you are awaiting test results or a diagnosis, cancer and cardiac history, and tobacco use. Guaranteed issue asks none of this beyond age and residency.
Fewer questions does not mean easier ones. Each answer carries more weight precisely because there are so few, and within the first two years an insurer can review the application against your records. Answer carefully.
What "pending" means, and why it matters
One question catches people repeatedly: are you currently awaiting test results, referral or a diagnosis? Answering no while a referral is outstanding is a misrepresentation even if nothing is eventually found. If something is genuinely pending, it is usually better to wait for the result than to apply around it.
Timeline
- Guaranteed issue — often approved within a day or two.
- Simplified issue — commonly days rather than weeks; sometimes a follow-up phone interview.
- Fully underwritten — typically four to eight weeks, mostly waiting on records from your doctor.
Ask about temporary coverage while any application is in progress. Many insurers provide interim protection from the application date, subject to conditions, and it often is not offered unless you raise it.
If you are approved with an exclusion
Sometimes an insurer offers coverage that excludes a specific condition rather than declining outright, or rates the premium upward. Neither is a rejection — both are prices.
An exclusion is worth reading closely: an exclusion for one named condition is very different from one written broadly enough to capture anything related to it. This is where comparing offers matters more than comparing premiums.
A no-medical policy bought during a difficult health period is not necessarily permanent. If the condition stabilises, fully underwritten coverage may become available at a much lower cost. Set a reminder for two years out — and never cancel until the replacement is in force.
How much does life insurance actually cost in Canada?
Most people guess far too high. Here are illustrative figures so you can calibrate — then a quote based on your actual health is the only number that really counts.
| Age at purchase | Illustrative monthly range | Relative to age 30 |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | $22 – $32 | 1.0× |
| 35 | $28 – $42 | ~1.3× |
| 40 | $33 – $50 | ~1.5× |
| 45 | $55 – $85 | ~2.6× |
| 50 | $85 – $125 | ~3.9× |
| 60 | $290 – $410 | ~13× |
Illustrative only, drawn from publicly published Canadian term rates current in 2026. Your premium will differ. Pricing depends on age, health history, smoking status, occupation, coverage amount, term length and the insurer’s own underwriting. These figures are a calibration aid, not a quote.
The two things that move the price most
Age. Look at the right-hand column rather than the dollars. Buying at 50 rather than 30 costs roughly four times as much for the same coverage, and the increase accelerates sharply after 50. This is the entire mathematical case for not deferring.
Smoking status. Smoker rates commonly run two to three times non-smoker rates. Most insurers define this broadly — cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, nicotine replacement and, at most companies, vaping. If you have quit, note that reclassification to non-smoker rates after a qualifying smoke-free period is not automatic; you have to ask. Many ex-smokers pay smoker rates for years without realising.
Term versus permanent, in dollars
| Type | Illustrative monthly | Lasts | Builds value? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-year term | $28 – $42 | 20 years, then ends | No |
| 30-year term | $48 – $68 | 30 years, then ends | No |
| Whole life | $250 – $400 | Your whole life | Yes, slowly |
That gap is why term is the right answer for most families. It is what makes it possible to carry enough coverage during the years the need is greatest — a mortgage and young children — on an ordinary budget. Permanent insurance is the appropriate tool when the need genuinely never ends: a dependant who will require lifelong support, a tax bill triggered at death on a cottage or portfolio, or a business succession arrangement.
Ask whether a term policy is convertible, and until what age. A conversion privilege lets you move to permanent coverage later without new medical evidence. If your health changes in your forties, that option can become the most valuable thing you own — and it usually expires before the term itself does. Two policies with near-identical premiums can have very different conversion terms.
Will the claim actually be paid?
Because simplified and guaranteed issue policies ask few or no health questions, the answers you do give carry more weight. Within the first two years an insurer can review the application, so accuracy on a short questionnaire matters as much as it would on a long one.
Across the industry the numbers are reassuring — Canadian life and health insurers paid $143.3 billion in benefits in 2024, roughly $400 million a day. Denials happen, but they rest on specific contractual grounds and must be justified in writing, and there is an independent escalation route through the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance.
I have set out the full evidence, the four real causes of denial and the complaint process on the life insurance page.
What people ask about no-medical coverage
These policies are useful for the right person and oversold to everyone else. Here is the honest split.
If there’s no medical exam, what’s the catch?”
Price and limits. The insurer accepts uncertainty it would otherwise have measured, and charges for it — so you pay more per dollar of coverage and can buy less of it. Guaranteed issue policies also carry a waiting period, commonly two years, during which death from natural causes returns your premiums rather than paying the benefit.
None of that is hidden, but it should be understood at purchase rather than discovered at claim.
I was declined, so I’m uninsurable.”
One company’s assessment is not the market’s answer. Insurers set their own underwriting from their own claims experience, and those guidelines differ dramatically by condition. I have had clients arrive convinced they were uninsurable who were offered standard or near-standard rates elsewhere.
What does make it harder is applying everywhere at once — declines are recorded and visible to other insurers.
Isn’t no-medical just for people who are very ill?”
No. Plenty of applicants are in reasonable health and simply want coverage quickly, dislike needles, or have a condition that is well managed but slow to underwrite. Simplified issue can be a sensible bridge in any of those cases.
It is worth trying fully underwritten first, though. Many people who assume they need no-medical qualify for something considerably cheaper.
Should I keep it once my health improves?”
Often not, and this is where people lose money. If you bought a bridge policy because a condition had not stabilised, reassess once it has — fully underwritten coverage may now be available at a fraction of the cost.
Never cancel until the replacement is issued and in force. Approval is not the same as active.
Five mistakes people make with no-medical coverage
These policies are genuinely useful for the right person. They are also the ones most often bought in the wrong circumstances.
1. Reaching for guaranteed issue first
Guaranteed issue asks no health questions and accepts everyone, which makes it feel like the safe default. It is the most expensive coverage per dollar and carries the lowest limits, and it almost always includes a waiting period.
Work down the list, not up: try fully underwritten first, then simplified issue, then guaranteed issue. Many people who assume they need guaranteed issue qualify for something considerably better.
2. Not understanding the waiting period before buying
On most guaranteed issue policies, death from natural causes in the first two years returns your premiums — often with interest — rather than paying the face amount. Accidental death is typically covered from day one.
That is not a trick; it is the only way an insurer can accept applicants without health information. But it must be understood at purchase, not discovered at claim. If you are buying because of a recent diagnosis, this is the clause that matters most.
3. Assuming one decline means uninsurable
Underwriting is not standardised. Insurers set their own guidelines from their own claims experience, and those differ dramatically by condition. A decline is one company's assessment of one application — not a verdict from the market.
4. Applying to several insurers at once
Declines are recorded and visible to other insurers, and a pattern of them makes each subsequent application harder. The right sequence is an informal enquiry with the insurers most likely to view your situation favourably, then one formal application to the best fit. This is the single most practical reason to work through a broker rather than applying directly.
5. Treating no-medical as permanent when it was meant to be temporary
If you are buying because of a recent diagnosis or a condition that has not yet stabilised, simplified issue now may be the right bridge — and fully underwritten coverage may become available in a year or two once the condition settles. Many people buy the bridge and never revisit it, paying a higher cost for years.
Set a reminder to reassess. And if you already hold a term policy with a conversion privilege, check it before buying anything new — it lets you move to permanent coverage without medical evidence, and it is often more valuable than a fresh no-medical policy.
Simplified issue asks fewer questions, not easier ones. The answers you give still form the basis of the contract, and a claim within the first two years can be reviewed against them. Fewer questions means each one carries more weight.
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