Group life insurance conversion in Canada: the 31 day window

When employer group life coverage ends or reduces, most plans let you convert it to an individual policy with no medical evidence of insurability. The application typically must reach the insurer within 31 days. Miss that window and the right disappears permanently.

Almost nobody uses this. Group life conversion is one of the few genuinely valuable benefits that expires because the people entitled to it never hear about it in time, and the window is short enough that a two week delay is fatal.

If you are leaving a job, having your hours reduced, or retiring before 65, this applies to you. If you are retiring at or past 65, or your coverage steps down on an age schedule, read the age limit section below first: the right may not exist in your plan.

What the conversion privilege gives you

The right to convert group life coverage to an individual policy without providing medical evidence of insurability. No exam, no health questionnaire, no underwriting decision. Canada Life’s own group conversion documentation states the position directly: conversion to an individual policy without providing medical evidence, with the application required within 31 days after group coverage terminates or reduces.

That matters most for exactly the people least likely to qualify elsewhere. If you have a diagnosis, a recent hospitalisation, or a history that would draw a rating on an individual application, this is a door that is open now and closes in a month.

The deadline

Typically 31 days from the date group coverage terminates or reduces. Some plans differ, and other benefits within the same package run on their own clocks: the guaranteed issue health and dental plans insurers offer departing employees have application windows of 60 to 90 days depending on the insurer, and those are separate purchases rather than conversions.

Two details cause people to miss it:

The clock starts when coverage ends, not when employment ends. Ask HR explicitly whether benefits cease on your last day worked or at the end of that month. The difference can be four weeks of your window.

A reduction can trigger the right, not just termination. If your group life amount steps down, the conversion right can apply to the reduced portion on the same 31 day clock. One caution: the industry guideline does not require plans to offer conversion for reductions scheduled at set ages or at retirement, so check your certificate rather than assuming. Nobody sends a letter about this either way.

The age limit nobody mentions

The industry standard conversion right runs to age 65. The CLHIA guideline that Canadian group contracts follow requires insurers to offer conversion to plan members “on or before attaining the age of 65 years,” and Canada Life’s fact sheet states the consequence plainly: you cannot apply if your coverage ends on or after your 65th birthday.

Some plans voluntarily extend the right, usually with reduced maximums. The New Brunswick government plan, for example, converts up to $200,000 to age 65, $50,000 to 70, and $25,000 to 75.

If you are retiring at or past 65, do not assume the conversion route exists. Read the certificate first; the answer decides everything else on this page.

What you can convert into

The industry standard floor is term insurance: the insurer must offer at least a one year renewable term or a term to age 65. Many insurers also offer permanent products on conversion, and the menu is set by your plan, so the certificate governs.

Coverage is capped. The industry guideline sets the maximum at the least of the coverage you lost, the amount not replaced under another group plan, and $200,000 across all your group life coverage. That middle test matters: if a new employer’s plan replaces part of your coverage, the convertible amount shrinks by that much. Quebec plans are governed by their own regulation with a higher combined maximum.

The premium is based on your age at conversion and the amount selected. It will be considerably higher than what your employer was paying, because group rates pool risk across an entire workforce and the individual conversion policy is priced knowing the insurer cannot screen your health.

If you die during the window

The 31 days is itself a form of coverage. Under standard policy wording, death during the conversion period pays the maximum amount that could have been converted, whether or not an application had been made. Canada Life’s fact sheet answers the question directly: “We’ll pay the max conversion amount.”

The option most people miss

You are not obliged to take the conversion policy. You can apply for a regular individually underwritten policy instead, which will usually be cheaper and offer more product choice if your health is good.

Canada Life’s group conversion materials describe a useful safety net on this: “If you don’t meet the medical terms, you’ll get the conversion life insurance policy instead.” Apply for the better policy within the 31 days, and a failed application still lands you in the guaranteed one.

Confirm whether your own plan offers the same protection, because it changes the risk calculation completely. Where it exists, you can attempt the better outcome without forfeiting the guaranteed one.

What to do, in order

1. Ask HR for your group life certificate today. It contains the conversion provision, the amount you held, any age limit, and the deadline.
2. Confirm the exact date coverage ends. Not your last day worked. The date benefits cease.
3. Calculate the deadline and write it down. Thirty one days from that date.
4. Decide whether you need the coverage at all. If you have adequate individual coverage already and no dependents, you may not.
5. If your health is good, ask a licensed advisor to compare a new individually underwritten policy against the conversion option, and check whether your plan’s safety net applies.
6. If your health has changed, exercise the conversion. Do not spend the window shopping. The wider sequence for that situation is in our guide to an expiring term when your health has changed.
7. Get the completed application and first premium to the insurer inside 31 days. Received, not postmarked.

Why this matters more at 55 to 65

People leaving employer coverage in this age band are frequently in the hardest position in the market. Group life is often the only coverage they have ever held, it disappears exactly when a diagnosis has arrived, and individual underwriting at 60 with a medical history is difficult and slow. And because the standard conversion right ends at 65, the window closes on the whole strategy, not just on one application.

The 31 day conversion right is the one guaranteed route to individual coverage available to that person. It is worth a great deal and it is almost never used.

If you are also holding an expiring individual term policy, the two conversion rights are separate and both may be available. The individual one is covered in our conversion deadline table; they should be planned together rather than in sequence.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a medical exam to convert group life?

No. Conversion is available without evidence of insurability. That is the entire value of the provision.

How much can I convert?

Up to the amount you held, subject to a maximum that the industry guideline sets at $200,000 across all your group life coverage. Coverage replaced under a new employer plan reduces the convertible amount, and Quebec plans run on their own rules with a higher combined maximum. Check your certificate for your specific limit.

Will it be more expensive than my group coverage?

Yes, usually considerably. Your employer was likely subsidising the cost, group rates pool risk across all employees, and the conversion policy is priced on the basis that the insurer cannot assess your health.

What if I miss the 31 days?

The conversion right lapses permanently. You would then need to apply for individual coverage with full underwriting and risk being rated or declined.

Can I convert if I was fired rather than resigned?

Yes. The reason employment ended does not affect the conversion right. Note that where notice periods extend benefits, the clock may start later.

Does accidental death coverage convert too?

Generally no. The industry conversion standard applies to life coverage only, and group accidental death benefits usually just end. Some insurers sell a separate guaranteed acceptance accident product to departing plan members, typically with a 60 day application window and a lower maximum. Ask about each benefit separately.

I have both a group benefit ending and a term policy expiring. Which first?

Deal with the group conversion first, because 31 days is far shorter than any individual policy deadline. Then plan the term decision properly.

What to do next

The window is 31 days, so ask HR for your certificate today. Then a licensed advisor can compare the conversion offer against an individually underwritten policy inside the window, and check whether your plan carries the safety net.