What happens when your term life insurance expires in Canada

At the end of the level term period you have four options: let the policy lapse, renew it at rates based on your current age, convert it to permanent coverage with no medical, or apply for a new policy. Renewal premiums typically jump several fold. Conversion usually has an earlier deadline than renewal.

Term life insurance covers you for a fixed number of years at a fixed price. Nothing pays out if you are alive at the end. That much most people know. What surprises them is that the policy does not simply stop. Most Canadian term contracts are renewable and convertible, which means two separate rights kick in as the term period closes, each on its own timetable.

The four options

Deciding between them comes down to your health and how long the need lasts; our renew, convert, or buy new framework compares the three live options side by side.

1. Let it lapse

You stop paying and coverage ends. There is no payout and no refund of premium. This is the right answer if the need that justified the policy has genuinely gone away: the mortgage is discharged, the children are independent, and there is enough capital that no one depends on your income.

It is the wrong answer surprisingly often, because the need has usually changed shape rather than disappeared.

2. Renew the existing term

Most Canadian term policies are guaranteed renewable up to a stated age, meaning the insurer must continue coverage until then regardless of your health. You cannot be re underwritten and you cannot be turned down.

The catch is price. Renewal premiums are set on your age at renewal, not on the age you were when you bought. A Term 20 purchased at 38 renews at 58, and the rate reflects mortality at 58 rather than 38. The size of the jump is not abstract: a Desjardins illustration for a 40 year old man with a $100,000 Term 20 shows $415 a year for the first twenty years, then $4,181 a year at the first renewal at age 61, ten times the original premium, and $15,183 a year at the second. The increase is unrelated to how healthy you are or how close to the expiry date you act.

How the renewal is structured varies considerably across the Canadian market, and it changes what the renewal is good for. A policy that renews annually gives you a relatively cheap first renewal year and an escalating cost after that, which makes it a workable short bridge. RBC’s own illustration for a $100,000 Term 20 shows the first renewal year at roughly triple the original premium, rising every year after. A policy that renews for another full term locks in a much larger increase immediately, as in the Desjardins example above, but holds it level.

The table below shows the renewal structure and outer age limit by insurer, checked in September 2026. Rows we could confirm against the insurer’s own documents say so; rows resting on broker reports or industry survey data are marked, because we have caught such data being wrong before. Your own contract governs either way.

One more trap: the schedule that binds you is the one printed in your contract, not the one on the insurer’s website today. Equitable’s current term products renew annually, but Equitable term policies sold before its product relaunch renew every 10 or 20 years, and the insurer’s older brochures still circulate online. Read your policy schedule, not the current product page.

3. Convert to permanent coverage

Your conversion privilege lets you exchange term coverage for a permanent policy with no medical exam and no health questions, priced at your attained age but at the health class recorded when the original policy was issued.

This is the option that matters most if your health has changed, and it is the one people most often discover too late. Conversion deadlines are set by age and are usually earlier than renewal deadlines. No Canadian insurer permits conversion past age 75, and most stop at 70 or 71.

See our carrier by carrier conversion deadline table for the specifics, and our guide to converting term life to permanent coverage for the pricing mechanics and how to size a partial conversion.

4. Apply for a new policy

Full underwriting, current age, current health. If you are still healthy this is frequently the cheapest route, because you are buying at today’s competitive term rates rather than at an attained age renewal schedule.

Be aware of issue age ceilings. Terms are commonly limited by a formula rather than a flat cutoff. RBC, for example, accepts applications for Term 10 to Term 15 from age 18 to 70, while for terms of 16 to 40 years the maximum issue age is 85 minus the term selected, so a Term 25 has a maximum issue age of 60. Manulife’s Family Term issues Term 10 up to age 70 but Term 20 only to age 60. Humania issues HuGO Term 20 to age 59.

Which deadline comes first

This is the question that decides your strategy, and the answer is almost always conversion.

Consider a Term 20 issued at age 45. The policy runs to 65. If the contract caps conversion at 71, the conversion right actually survives past the level term period and follows the renewed coverage. If it caps at 65, conversion and expiry land together. If the insurer is one of the more restrictive ones capping at 65 on a policy issued at 50, the conversion right dies five years before the term does.

There is no general rule. Read the contract, or have someone read it for you.

What usually changes between age 40 and age 60

The reason this decision is harder than it looks is that the underlying need rarely disappears on schedule. Between the purchase of a Term 20 and its expiry, most households see:

• A mortgage refinanced or extended rather than paid off
• Children in post secondary education rather than independent
• Aging parents creating a new dependency
• A business, rental property or cottage that now carries a tax liability at death
• Registered savings that will be fully taxable on a final return
• At least one new medical diagnosis

The first five expand the need. The last one removes the easy solution. That combination is why the end of a term policy is a genuine planning moment rather than an administrative one. If the last item describes your file, our guide to an expiring term when your health has changed walks through the sequence step by step.

What to do, and when

Twenty four months before expiry. Locate the contract. Establish the conversion deadline and the renewal structure.

Twelve to eighteen months before. Get an anonymous assessment of where your health would land today. This does not require an application and creates no record.

Twelve months before. If a new policy looks achievable, start the application. Underwriting on a file with medical history can take two to three months, sometimes longer if the insurer requests records from your physician.

Never. Cancel the existing policy before the new one is issued, delivered and in force. Everything that can still go wrong after an approval is covered in our guide to never cancelling the old policy first.

Frequently asked questions

Does term life insurance expire?

The level premium period expires. The policy itself usually continues on a renewable basis at increasing rates until a maximum age, commonly 85 but ranging from 80 to 100 depending on the insurer.

At what age does term life insurance end?

It depends on the contract. Most Canadian insurers stop renewals at 85. The restrictive end of the market is age 80 and the flexible end runs to 100 or, at UV Insurance, for as long as the insured is alive.

What happens if I outlive my term policy?

Nothing is paid out. Term insurance has no cash value and no maturity benefit. You have paid for the coverage you had, in the same way you pay for home insurance you never claim on.

Do I get my premiums back?

No, not on a standard term policy. Return of premium riders exist on some products in other markets and on critical illness insurance in Canada, but they are not a feature of Canadian term life contracts.

Is renewing or buying new cheaper?

If you are healthy, buying new is usually much cheaper. If your health has changed, renewal or conversion may be the only options, and conversion is generally the better of the two for a long term need.

Can I be turned down at renewal?

No. Guaranteed renewability means the insurer continues coverage regardless of your health, up to the maximum renewal age in your contract. You will pay considerably more, but you cannot be declined.

What to do next

Your renewal letter has a date on it. Your conversion deadline may be earlier. A licensed advisor can read your contract, confirm both dates, and price the alternatives, and the review creates no insurance record. Start with the needs calculator if the amount is the open question.