Life insurance for diabetics in Canada: how insurers decide and what you can get
Diabetes rarely rules you out. Your type, your A1C history and any complications decide the price.
A diabetes diagnosis changes the life insurance application, not the answer. Underwriters want to see how long you've had it, how well it's controlled and whether it has affected your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart. Each insurer weighs those facts differently, which is why the first quote is often not the best one.
In short
Most people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes can buy life insurance in Canada. With good control and no complications, many get standard rates or an extra premium on a fully underwritten policy. If that is declined, simplified issue plans (iA Access Life: $10,000 to $500,000, ages 6 months to 80) and guaranteed issue plans, such as Empire Life's with no health questions but a 2-year limited benefit, are still available. Always disclose your diabetes.
What underwriters look at when you have diabetes
Insurers don't publish their diabetes rules, but their questionnaires show what they ask. BMO's diabetic questionnaire (142E, 2024/12/01) is a typical example.
Type and age at diagnosis
The date you were diagnosed and your age now tell the insurer how many years of diabetes it is pricing. Type 1 usually means more years.
Control over time
Your A1C results and how often you test. One good reading helps less than a steady record over a year or two.
Treatment
Diet only, pills or insulin, with the type and dose. Insulin reactions or diabetic comas are asked about directly.
Complications
Heart trouble or chest pain, high blood pressure, eye trouble, protein (albumin) in the urine, and numbness or tingling in the limbs.
They also ask your height and weight, any weight change in the past two years, whether you've had an ECG, and your doctor's name. Smoking is asked about and priced as on any application.
Type 1 vs type 2: how the application differs
| Type 1 | Type 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Usual age at diagnosis | Often in childhood or young adulthood | Usually in adulthood |
| Treatment | Always insulin | Diet, pills, other injectables, sometimes insulin |
| What helps your file | Steady A1C, no complications, regular specialist follow-up | Steady A1C, healthy weight, normal blood pressure and cholesterol |
| Critical illness | Harder to get; Equitable declines insulin-dependent diabetes for EquiLiving CI | Possible at some insurers; Equitable declines if under 40 or diagnosed in the past 6 months |
About A1C. A1C shows your average blood sugar over about the past 3 months. Experts cited by HealthLink BC suggest a target of 7.0% or less for most non-pregnant adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Readings close to your target, kept there, are what an underwriter wants to see. If your last result was high because of an illness or a medicine change, say so and show the results either side of it.
Shopping around matters more with diabetes. Industry reporting in 2024 described insurers updating their diabetes guidelines and moving more applicants to standard rates, and gave an example of one insurer offering a rated policy where another offered standard. Before you apply, Pankaj can send an anonymous summary to several underwriters for an informal opinion, so the full application goes first to the insurer likely to offer the best terms.
Standard, rated, simplified or guaranteed issue: your options
Start at the top. Move down only if the plan above is declined or priced too high.
| Type of policy | Health questions | Amounts | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fully underwritten, standard | Full application, often blood and urine tests, possibly a doctor's report | Up to the insurer's normal limits | Lowest price. Possible with well-controlled diabetes and no complications. |
| Fully underwritten, rated | Same as above | Same as above | An extra premium on top of the standard price. Can be reviewed later if control improves. |
| Simplified issue | A short set of questions, no medical exam | iA Access Life: $10,000 to $500,000, ages 6 months to 80 | Higher price per dollar. iA places you in a level (Deferred, Deferred Plus, Immediate Plus) that sets the amount and cover; term 15, 20 or 25 only at the higher levels. |
| Guaranteed issue | None | Smaller amounts, aimed at final expenses | Highest price. Empire Life Guaranteed Life Protect: natural death in the first 24 months returns premiums paid; premiums to age 95, cover for life. |
iA says that if you don't qualify for its Deferred level, you still qualify for Guaranteed Access. Compare a rated regular policy with these before you assume the simpler plan is cheaper.
Prepare your diabetes summary
Fill this in from your records. It shows what's still missing and builds a message you can send to Pankaj.
Nothing you enter is sent anywhere unless you press the WhatsApp button. This is a preparation aid, not an underwriting decision.
How to apply so the first answer is the best one
Disclose everything. Diabetes Canada points out that every province's Insurance Act requires you to disclose every fact you know, and that hiding diabetes can make the contract voidable. Once the policy is issued, you don't have to report later changes in your health.
Apply when your numbers are steady. If your doctor has just changed your medicine, a few months of stable results first can make the file read better.
Choose the right amount and term. Use the life insurance needs calculator, then compare term life with whole life. An extra premium is charged on the cover you buy, so buying only what you need keeps it down.
Don't cancel existing cover, including group life from work, until the new policy is issued and in force.
Ask for a review later. If you are rated and your control improves over a few years, ask the insurer to reconsider or apply elsewhere.
Bring these to the application
- Date of diagnosis and type of diabetes
- Your last few A1C results, with dates
- Medicines and insulin, with doses
- Any low-sugar reactions or hospital visits, with dates
- Eye exam, kidney (urine) and blood pressure results
- ECG or heart test results, if you've had them
- Height, weight and any weight change in the past two years
- Your family doctor's and specialist's names and addresses
Questions about life insurance with diabetes
Can I get life insurance if I have diabetes?
Yes. Many people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes qualify for regular, fully underwritten life insurance, at standard rates or with an extra premium.
The result depends on your type of diabetes, how long you've had it, your A1C history, your treatment and whether you have complications. If regular cover is declined, simplified and guaranteed issue plans are still open to you.
Is type 1 harder to insure than type 2?
Often, yes, because type 1 usually starts younger and always needs insulin, so the insurer is pricing a longer history of the disease.
Good control and no complications still matter more than the label. Insulin use in type 2 is treated more like type 1 by some insurers: Equitable, for example, declines both for its critical illness plan.
What A1C do insurers want to see?
Insurers don't publish a cut-off, but readings at or near your treatment target, kept there over time, help most.
Experts quoted by HealthLink BC suggest an A1C of 7.0% or less for most non-pregnant adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. A1C shows your average blood sugar over about the past 3 months, so bring several results, not just the latest.
What if I don't mention my diabetes?
Don't do that: failing to disclose it can make the policy voidable, and a claim can be refused.
Diabetes Canada notes that provincial Insurance Acts require you to disclose every fact you know when you apply. Once a life policy is issued, you generally don't have to report later changes in your health.
Can I get critical illness insurance with diabetes?
It is harder than life insurance, and some insurers decline it outright for certain groups.
Equitable's pre-qualifying form says people with insulin-dependent diabetes, or non-insulin diabetes under age 40 or diagnosed in the past 6 months, are not eligible for its EquiLiving critical illness plan. Other insurers set their own rules. See critical illness insurance cost.
What does a "rated" policy mean?
It means the insurer accepts you but charges an extra premium for the added risk.
A rating is not always permanent: if your control improves over a few years, you can ask the insurer to review it or apply elsewhere. Different insurers can also rate the same file differently.
What is the catch with guaranteed issue life insurance?
Smaller amounts, higher premiums, and a limited payout if you die of natural causes in the first two years.
Under Empire Life's Guaranteed Life Protect, a death from natural causes in the first 24 months pays back the premiums paid, without interest; accidental death pays the full amount. After the second anniversary it pays the full amount for any cause.
Does prediabetes or gestational diabetes count?
Yes, if the application asks about it. Read each health question closely and answer exactly what it asks.
Have your latest A1C or glucose results and your doctor's notes ready so the underwriter can see whether it has resolved or is being watched.
My parents have diabetes and are visiting Canada. What do they need?
They need visitor or Super Visa medical insurance, not life insurance, with cover for stable pre-existing conditions.
See Super Visa insurance for parents with diabetes for stability rules by insurer and age.
Written by Pankaj Bhatia, CHS, PFA
Insure In Canada Inc. · Licensed in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
Pankaj compares iA, Empire Life, Foresters, Co-operators, Wawanesa, BMO Insurance, Equitable Life and Assumption Life for clients with diabetes, and goes through the diabetic questionnaire with them before anything is submitted.
Call 647-640-2222 · WhatsApp · info@pankajbhatia.ca · About Pankaj
Sources and related pages
- Diabetes Canada: insurance and diabetes
- BMO Insurance: diabetic questionnaire (142E, 2024/12/01)
- Equitable: critical illness pre-qualifying questionnaire (347, 2024/11/05)
- iA Financial Group: Access Life
- Empire Life: Guaranteed Life Protect
- HealthLink BC: diabetes blood sugar levels
- Diabetes Care Community: what is an A1C?
- Investment Executive: insurance options for clients with diabetes (June 2024)
Not medical advice. Insurers' diabetes guidelines are not public and change; each insurer's underwriting decides the offer. Reviewed October 2026.