Canada Life

April 28th 2020: Digital contract delivery is now available

April 9th 2020: COVID-19 update: Doing business with Canada Life, staying connected and how we’re helping Canadians

April 8th 2020: 25% reduction of the minimum withdrawal rate on income policies

April 6th 2020:

Normally Canada Life does not accept emailed copies of applications, however, due to COVID-19, you can email them to Crystal Lemcke. Please ensure the document is password protected and that the password is sent to Crystal in a separate email. We will accept applications with any face amount at this time.

Communications archive

March 24, 2020

In the links below you can find the COVID-19 communications that have been sent to date.

March 23, 2020

March 20, 2020

March 19, 2020

March 13, 2020

March 3, 2020

Doing business effectively

Submitting and placing insurance business virtually

While current working conditions are different than what we’re accustomed to, there are still ways to work with your clients and continue business virtually. Whenever possible, our online application and SimpleProtect are the easiest ways to ensure a compliant experience.

If you have a physical contract, it can be sent by registered mail (signature required) with the AOPR and any other placing documents being returned to New Business via email.

Learn more about our non face-to-face policy

Learn more about SimpleProtect

Insurance New Business – frequently asked questions

Your wealth business

Your wealth business can also continue while dealing with the impacts. The majority of investment centre business can be handled virtually. Please ensure you have transaction authorization forms or limited authorization forms to assist your clients with transactions and remember that electronic banking is available for clients. If you’ve already submitted an electronic copy of a document, originals are not required.

Market updates

We’ve seen the impact to stock markets in recent weeks, as a result of growing concern about COVID-19. Your clients may be concerned and will likely have questions about what this means for their portfolios. We want to ensure you have what you need to support them in this trying time.

Market Volatility Toolkit: Use the resources in this toolkit to help educate your clients, calm their rising worries and help them avoid making emotional investment decisions.

GLC insights

Market conditions call recording – March 25, 2020

Market conditions call recording – March 18, 2020

Market conditions call recording – March 10, 2020

Additional resources

Helpful external links

World Health Organization – COVID-19

Most recent announcement from Prime Minister Trudeau

Changes announced to Employment Insurance wait times

Despite the pandemic, your business doesn’t stop.
But social distancing, business closures and lack of paramedical services has compelled you to make some
changes. To help, we’ve compiled some best practices for placing new business without seeing your client or
exchanging paper.
We’re also changing some processes to make it easier for you do business with us, including:
       • Relaxed rules around medical evidence
       • Processing non-face-to-face without social interaction
For large cases, we’re getting creative about medical evidence to place as much business as possible while
we wait for paramedical services to resume. Please understand that finding creative solutions to underwrite
your large cases will take more time than usual. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
On the other hand, most of our policy contracts and placing processes remain the same.
More than ever before, our client service is essential. Learn what we’re doing to help you retain your business
and help your clients retain their coverage. See how we are supporting clients with premium payment flexibility.
What happens if your clients contract COVID-19? Learn more about our updates to claims.
Relaxed rules around medical evidence
Due to the lack of paramedical services, we’re temporarily relaxing our requirements to expand the range of
applications we’ll underwrite without vitals or fluids.
Life insurance1
For applications received at Canada Life™ on or before March 10, we’ll underwrite without vitals or fluids up to
these limits:
       ■ Up to and including age 69 for $1M or less of coverage
       ■ Ages 70 and over up to the product maximum age for $500,000 or less of coverage
We’ll review all life insurance applications received at Canada Life on or before March 10 that are still pending
and make an underwriting decision without vitals or fluids.
For applications received at Canada Life March 11 and onward, we’ll underwrite without vitals or fluids up to
these limits:
       ■ Ages 50 and under for $1M or less of coverage
       ■ Ages 51 to 55 for $500,000 or less of coverage
1 Note that preferred and super preferred classifications are not available for term policies which previously would have
required vitals or fluids but now don’t require them. We’ll reconsider the classification once your client submits fluids.
Page 2 of 5
       ■ Ages 56 to 64 for $100,000 or less of coverage
       ■ Ages 65 and up for $50,000 or less of coverage
Critical illness insurance
For CI applications pending and going forward, we’ll underwrite without vitals or fluids up to these limits:
       ■ Ages 18 to 40 for $250,000 or less of coverage
       ■ Ages 41 to 50 for $100,000 or less of coverage
       ■ Ages 51 and up for $50,000 or less of coverage
Disability insurance
For DI applications pending and going forward, we’ll underwrite without vitals or fluids up to these limits:
       ■ Ages 40 and under for $6,000 MIB* or less
       ■ Ages 41 and up for $2,500 MIB* or less
*Note: these amounts include 25% of total FIO amount, if applied for. These limits will also apply to medical professionals
applying under the Start Right Grad program.
Review of new and pending cases with discretionary evidence
       • We’re currently reviewing all applications for which parameds and APSs were ordered for cause and have
not yet been received. Based on this review, we’ll determine if we can make a decision with the information
we have on file or by conducting a client interview.
       • If your client has had an executive medical done in the past 12 months, contact the underwriter assigned to
your case to discuss how we may be able to use it in underwriting.
We may still be able to underwrite larger life cases during the COVID-19 pandemic
If you have a life case over the age and amount limits requiring paramedicals, vitals and fluids, we’re here to
help.
If we’re able to secure a doctor’s report with the client’s full medical history, including recent vitals and fluids,
we’ll review the case with a critical eye to see if an offer is possible at this time.
We’ll also use teleinterview services to supplement our efforts to collect disclosures from your client in the
absence of a paramedical.
If we can’t secure a doctor’s report, here’s what you can do:
Talk to your client and see if they have access to their own health records that they could share with us, such
as:
       • Results of recent vitals or fluids taken by their doctor
       • ECG and stress tests
       • Records of other testing completed over the past 5 years (ultrasounds, CT scans, mammograms, specialist
consult reports, etc.)
       • Results of executive medical completed within the past 12 months
Page 3 of 5
In the absence of significant adverse medical history, we’ll do our very best to offer coverage on some basis.
Each case will be different based on the evidence available, and the solution will depend on the quality of the
information and evidence we can gather together.
We remain mindful of social distancing, so we’re not advocating that your clients visit their doctors’ offices or
any clinics during this pandemic to complete insurance medicals. We’re looking to leverage existing medical
information that may be available.
Our large-case underwriters are looking forward to working with you to find those creative solutions!
Providing reduced coverage amounts on cases where evidence is still required
Let us know if you and your client would like us to issue a reduced coverage amount (an amount below which
we don’t require parameds, vitals or fluids). We’re happy to comply, provided all other evidence and
disclosures indicate we can make an offer of insurance. At a later date, your client can apply to increase the
insurance to the original amount when paramed services resume. As well, if you’ve submitted a combo-app
and instructed us to hold both policies until they’re ready to issue, please let us know if you want us to issue
what we can, should the other policy be held up pending medical evidence.
Processing non-face-to-face without social interaction
We recently removed all upper limits in place for doing non-face-to-face business (all products) on web app
and paper applications. Please continue to use our non-face-to-face authorization form (17-8944). Don’t forget,
you can have it completed and signed using a digital signature and email it back to us.
Non-face-to-face continues to be available for all SimpleProtect™ applications. Eligible coverage amounts to
use SimpleProtect remain unchanged at $2M or less in coverage for life or $250,000 or less for critical illness.
Reference SimpleProtect eligibility for term and participating life insurance and critical Illness.
We no longer require parameds for identity purposes. The following methods will be accepted instead:
For term, par, CI and DI:
       ■ For your existing clients, if a paramedical was only required to verify the client’s ID, we will no
longer need this.
       ■ For new clients, use a video chat platform, such as Microsoft Teams or Skype to visually confirm
the client’s photo ID, and indicate on the Advisor's Report “client's identification was verified through
video conferencing.” Note that we’ll accept IDs that expired on March 1, 2020 or later.
For UL:
       ■ For your existing clients, if a paramedical was only required to verify the client’s ID, we will no
longer need this.
       ■ For existing clients, you can verify with previously collected non-photo owner identification (form
number 46-10771) and anti-money laundering information (as long as the information you have on
file was collected within 24 months).
Page 4 of 5
       ■ For new clients, use a video chat platform such as Microsoft Teams or Skype to visually confirm the
client’s photo ID, and indicate on the Advisor's Report “client's identification was verified through
video conferencing.” Note that we’ll accept IDs that expired on March 1, 2020 or later.
       ■ For new clients, or existing clients for whom we don’t have anti-money laundering information, use
the dual process method where signatures are not required. You can confirm the non-photo owner
identification while on video chat, and the client sends 2 verified source documents through email or
fax.
Best practices for placing new business
Prefer electronic applications and payments
       • We strongly recommend using SimpleProtect, when eligible. Reference SimpleProtect eligibility for term
and participating life insurance and critical Illness.
       • We’re still accepting paper applications but cannot accept applications through email. Please continue to
route them through normal mailing channels or courier them directly to us at Canada Life Insurance New
Business, 255 Dufferin Avenue, London, ON N6A 4K1.
       • We’re still accepting cheques, but strongly recommend using EFT payment authorization forms in the
application or submit them separately with placing documentation instead of cheques.
Mainly BAU for policy contracts and placing
       • Unless we’re advised otherwise, we’ll continue to mail policy contracts as usual.
       • We’re currently working on an electronic version of the contract. Stay tuned for updates on that soon.
       • Continue to send your placing documents to us as usual – by fax, mail or email.
       • Exception to BAU - We’re unable to place policy contracts out of country at this time.
Placing deadlines
       • We’re continuing to issue policies with our standard 60-day deadline. If you need additional time to place a
policy, please reach out to your New Business Associate.
Many ways to track your cases
       • Ensure you’ve subscribed to our daily and weekly automated emails. To subscribe, go into the New
Business application home page and set up your preferences. We keep you posted on changes as they
occur every day and provide you a weekly snapshot of the status of all your cases at Canada Life.
       • Make use of our online, real-time updates on the New Business inquiry screen. It’s available to you 24/7.
       • For more detailed inquiries, your dedicated New Business Associate is available by phone or email.
       • For risk-related inquiries on a case, contact your underwriter (underwriter name is on NB inquiry screen
and also on the welcome letter we send on all your cases.)
Page 5 of 5
Client Service
Payment flexibility for your clients
For clients who report a specific financial impact due to COVID-19 -- We’re happy to work with them on
identifying options to meet their personal circumstances. This could include using the flexibility within their
policy or delaying premiums for up to 90 days. Clients’ circumstances vary, so it’s important we look at their
personal situation. Our goal – as always -- is to assist your clients in maintaining their coverage.
New options for term renewals
We’re reviewing our practices, including how to handle term renewals. In the case of internal replacements,
please send any applications well in advance. This will give us time to look at options for your client.
Claims updates
Life insurance and wealth claims
We temporarily increased our threshold for accelerated life and non-registered, non-spousal wealth claims to
$100,000, so we can pay more claims faster with minimal requirements.
Living benefits claims
Critical illness insurance provides a lump-sum payment for specific medical conditions as defined in your
policy, such as cancer, heart attack and stroke. COVID-19 is not a covered condition under this policy, so no
critical illness benefit would be payable.
For disability and overhead expense insurance, benefits are available if you’ve tested positive for COVID-19
and the symptoms prevent you from working beyond the policy’s waiting period due to disability. Any days
spent in quarantine prior to the positive test (up to a maximum of 14 days) will be included in your waiting
period. This policy does not provide benefits under other circumstances related to COVID-19, such as
workplace disruptions, loss of business, unemployment, product or employee unavailability or because of
preventive restrictions.
Working together through this
We continue to focus on providing you with the best service possible during this time. Thank you for your
support and understanding if we find it necessary to prioritize certain processes over others at this time. 

 

 

Canada Life:

Offices are currently closed and staff are working from home. As such, we are unable to access paper contracts being mailed to our Toronto office and are requesting that you email us a scanned copy of each contract, after which, the original paper contracts should be sent to our office as per your usual practice.  

Also, Canda Life has a robust non-face-to-face business policy in place, which applies to electronic and paper applications. Additionally, with the option to have clients sign on their own device, SimpleProtect applications can be completed without the need for a face-to-face meeting, and the authorization is completed digitally vs the paper authorization form that is required for web or paper apps.

All face-to-face paramedical exam appointments are temporarily suspended in order to protect the health and safety of examiners, clients and the community as a whole. Effective immediately, all previously scheduled appointments will be cancelled and no new appointments will be scheduled until it’s determined that it is safe to resume services.   

New Business is applying the following underwriting practices to Life, Critical Illness and Disability Insurance products:

• Any applications submitted (or pending applications) where there is planned travel to China or Hong Kong within the next month, will be postponed until the client has returned and been back in Canada for a minimum of 14 days. After the period of quarantine, we would consider reopening the file. Any file postponed would not be eligible for temporary insurance agreement (TIA) or conditional insurance agreement (CIA) benefits.

• Anyone who has recently returned from China or Hong Kong will have their insurance application postponed until they have been back in Canada for a minimum of 14 days and can produce a statement of good health upon delivery of their policy. After the period of quarantine, we would consider reopening the file. Any file postponed would not be eligible for TIA or CIA benefits.

• When the application is formally declined, the TIA/CIA will be cancelled as well.

• We are unable to offer out-of-country delivery of contracts to China or Hong Kong during this time.

• For any AOPR's delivered and signed in China or Hong Kong, we will not be able to place the contract until the client has returned to Canada for at least 14 days and can produce a statement of good health upon delivery of their policy.

• For more information please click here