Why Insurance Is Important in Canada

While Canada’s universal healthcare system offers many essential services, some Canadians’ needs exceed what government healthcare can cover and require private insurance as a solution.

Canadian small and medium-sized employers are increasingly offering flexible benefits with voluntary benefits, including prescription drug coverage and extended health care services, that give employees various voluntary options.

Life Insurance

Stats Canada reports that approximately 70% of Canadian households possess life insurance policies. Such coverage provides a one-time payout upon your death to alleviate financial strain on those left behind, helping ease stress for family and loved ones left behind.

Life insurance comes in two major varieties, term and permanent. Term policies offer lower-cost protection for a period of 10, 20, or 30 years, typically purchased to meet temporary financial responsibilities such as debt repayment or mortgage protection.

Permanent life insurance provides lifetime protection and can combine savings components and death benefits into one plan; however, the premium costs typically surpass those for term policies due to factors like age and gender (men typically pay more due to shorter life expectancies), health habits like smoking or risky hobbies or family medical histories that need coverage.

Health Insurance

Canada’s national healthcare system stands out among developed nations in many ways. Instead of being centrally administered, healthcare services are managed at the provincial and territorial levels with federal transfer payments based on five main criteria: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, and portability.

However, this model presents its own challenges, with people needing to consider various issues when selecting their province or territory to live in. Long wait times for non-emergent procedures and unequal funding in rural areas could all be issues when choosing where they reside.

Private health insurance provides coverage beyond what their provincial or territorial plans offer, such as prescription drugs and dental care. Supplementary plans like this help relieve individual families and taxpayers of financial strain while giving access to better hospitals across Canada. Bernie Sanders campaigned on his vision of Medicare for All as the solution to America’s broken healthcare system during the 2020 presidential campaign season. Still, this model should only be seen as one out of many that should be explored further.

Disability Insurance

The ability to earn a living is one of our most essential assets. Without it, we would struggle to pay bills, purchase homes, send children to school, and invest in retirement plans. Disability insurance provides tax-free monthly income that helps maintain the standard of living should illness or injury prevent us from working.

Private Canadian disability insurance companies allow you to create your policy tailored exactly to your needs, from choosing the maximum monthly payout you require to incorporating features like own or regular occupation and cost of living adjustment coverage features.

IFBC points out that insurers often ask questions on applications related to age, sex, and marital status that may be discriminatory, as well as medical exams with blood and urine tests, blood pressure readings, and the use of stethoscopes. HALCO expresses its concern over some insurers sharing information about disabled employees with employers – in violation of the Code’s prohibition against discrimination due to disability.

Home Insurance

Home insurance is one of Canada’s most prevalent forms of property and casualty insurance, protecting people’s most significant financial investments – their homes – from fires or burglaries. Although homeowner’s insurance isn’t legally mandated here in Canada, many mortgage lenders require it before providing mortgage approvals.

Homeowner’s insurance can cover anything from basic needs to complex concerns, with policies typically covering such elements as:

Car Insurance

Every driver in Canada should purchase car insurance. Not only is it mandatory in most provinces, but having car insurance also protects you financially in case an accident that was your responsibility occurs.

The minimum level of car insurance required varies by province. Still, most policies include third-party liability coverage that pays out for damage to other vehicles and people due to an accident you caused. Bodily injury coverage typically pays medical expenses or lost income for those injured due to one you caused and bodily injury coverage for yourself and any passengers in your car.

Private car insurers provide optional coverages such as depreciation waivers and family protection that help reduce premiums while increasing convenience. Other features can include driving record guarantee and accident forgiveness policies that help maintain a clean record after being at-fault in an at-fault collision, particular policies for classic cars, RVs trailers, and farm vehicles, and specific policies specifically for classics cars, RVs trailers, and farm vehicles. Given how often accidents happen across Canada roads, having car insurance is an absolute necessity that provides both peace of mind and financial protection – making this investment well worth every penny spent!