Life insurance with diabetes in Canada: what Type 1 and Type 2 change, and what they don't
Can you get life insurance with diabetes in Canada? Yes. What Type 1 and Type 2 change about price, coverage and approval, what insurers look at, and how to apply with no medical exam.
On this page
- Key takeaways
- Can you get life insurance if you have diabetes in Canada?
- Type 1 vs Type 2: what underwriters actually look at
- The three ways to apply, and what each asks of you
- What diabetes does to your price
- How Oneday handles diabetes
- What a 24-month deferral means, in three sentences
- How to get the strongest possible offer with diabetes
- Conclusion
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
Yes, you can get life insurance with diabetes in Canada. Type 1 and Type 2 both qualify for real coverage, and for many people the price lands closer to standard than they expect. What diabetes changes is how you are assessed, what you pay per dollar of coverage, and which application route makes sense. What it does not change, at least not here, is whether you get an offer at all.
This guide explains what underwriters actually look at when diabetes is on your file, the three ways to apply (and what each one asks of you), what diabetes does to your price, and how to get the strongest possible offer. It is written for Canadians living with Type 1, Type 2, prediabetes or gestational diabetes, and for the people who love them and worry about the bills they would leave behind.
Can you get life insurance if you have diabetes in Canada?
Yes. Diabetes is one of the most common conditions Canadian underwriters see, and the industry has decades of claims data on it. That data is why diabetes is priced rather than simply declined by most insurers, and why the difference between a well-managed file and a complicated one shows up as a difference in premium, not a difference in whether you can buy a policy.
The honest caveat: some traditional insurers still decline Type 1 diabetics outright, decline anyone diagnosed under a certain age, or decline anyone with a complication such as kidney disease or neuropathy. If you have been turned down before, that decline was a statement about one company's rules, not about your insurability. Our guide on what to do after a declined application covers the mechanics, and the short version is that another route almost always exists.
Type 1 vs Type 2: what underwriters actually look at
Underwriters are not grading you on whether you have diabetes. They are estimating how the condition is likely to affect your life expectancy, and that depends on a handful of specifics. Here is what matters and why.
| Factor | Why it matters | What helps your file |
|---|---|---|
| Type 1 or Type 2 | Type 1 is autoimmune, usually diagnosed younger and always insulin-dependent, so it is treated as the higher-risk category. Type 2 is more often diet-, pill- or lifestyle-managed and is typically priced closer to standard. | Nothing to change here. Just know which category you are in and answer accurately. |
| Age at diagnosis and years since | An earlier diagnosis means more years of exposure to the condition. A very recent diagnosis means the insurer cannot yet see how well it is controlled. | A stable record of six to twelve months of treatment after diagnosis reassures most underwriters. |
| Blood sugar control (A1C) | A1C is the three-month average underwriters use as shorthand for control. Diabetes Canada's general target for most adults is 7.0% or lower. | Consistent readings matter more than one good reading. Know your last number before you apply. |
| How you manage it | Diet and exercise, then oral medication, then insulin is roughly the order of perceived risk. Insulin use alone does not disqualify you. | Taking the medication your doctor prescribed is a positive, not a negative. Skipping it is what worries underwriters. |
| Complications | Retinopathy, neuropathy, kidney disease, heart disease or a previous stroke change the picture more than the diabetes itself. | If you have none, say so clearly. If you do, disclose them; a follow-up question is not a decline. |
| Weight, blood pressure, cholesterol | These travel with Type 2 and compound the risk when they are uncontrolled. | Treated and stable counts in your favour. Our guide to life insurance with high cholesterol explains how. |
| Smoking | Smoking roughly doubles the mortality risk associated with diabetes in underwriting tables. | Twelve months tobacco-free usually earns non-smoker rates, which is the single biggest lever you control. |
| Regular care | Underwriters like to see that someone is watching the condition: routine visits, eye exams, bloodwork. | Being engaged with your care is a plus, even if your numbers are not perfect. |
Notice that almost none of this requires a medical exam to assess. It is information you already know about yourself, which is exactly why the no-exam route works for diabetes.
The three ways to apply, and what each asks of you
Canadians with diabetes usually end up on one of three paths. None is wrong; they trade paperwork and certainty against price and coverage amount.
| Fully underwritten | Simplified issue (no exam) | Guaranteed issue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical exam | Yes: blood, urine, often an attending physician's statement | No. Health questions only | No. No health questions at all |
| Typical timeline | Three to eight weeks | Minutes to a few days | Same day |
| Typical coverage | Largest amounts | Roughly $25,000 to $500,000 | Smaller amounts, often $5,000 to $50,000 |
| Price | Lowest if you pass; rated or declined if you do not | Competitive; higher for complicated answers | Highest per dollar of coverage |
| Deferral | None | Sometimes, depending on answers | Usually a 24-month deferral on natural-cause death |
| Best for | Well-controlled Type 2 with no complications and patience for the process | Most people with diabetes who want speed, certainty and meaningful coverage | Complicated files, or anyone who has been declined everywhere else |
We have written in more depth about how simplified issue and guaranteed issue policies work, and about what a medical exam involves if you decide to go the traditional route.
At Oneday you never choose between these. One 14-question application sorts you into the strongest offer available for your answers, from full coverage on day one at our best pricing to a guaranteed permanent policy that no health answer can take away. The four tiers and their prices are laid out on our products page.
What diabetes does to your price
The same $100,000 from 35 to 70, two health profiles
Honestly: for most people with diabetes, something. Life insurance is priced on risk, and a complicated file costs more per dollar of coverage than a clean one. The useful question is how much, and whether the number still fits your budget.
For context, here are Oneday's published monthly prices for someone whose answers qualify for full coverage from day one. They are the starting point, not a promise; your answers, including the ones about diabetes, place you on the table.
| Coverage | Age 35 | Age 45 | Age 55 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $20.00 | $20.00 | $41.04 |
| $250,000 | $27.68 | $45.45 | $98.55 |
| $500,000 | $52.65 | $88.20 | $194.40 |
Illustrative monthly premiums: female non-smoker, age nearest birthday, 10-year term, Prime tier, including the $30 annual policy fee. $20.00 is the minimum monthly premium. Not an offer of insurance; your rate is shown during the application, before any payment is taken. Underwritten by Humania Assurance Inc.
If your answers land you in a tier with a higher price, you will see that price before you pay a cent, and it will not rise later because your diabetes changes. For comparison, $100,000 of 10-year term at age 55 is $41.04 per month in the table above and $65.52 per month in the next tier down. Both are real numbers from the same calculator; the difference is what a more complicated health history costs.
Two things are worth saying plainly. First, a higher price is still a policy. Your family receives the full tax-free benefit whether you paid the best rate or a rated one. Second, waiting for a "better" A1C before applying is usually a mistake. Rates rise on every birthday, and the improvement you are hoping for is rarely large enough to offset a year of age. Our guide on how age affects life insurance rates shows the curve.
How Oneday handles diabetes
We built Oneday for Canadians that other insurers make jump through hoops, and diabetes is close to the top of that list. Here is what the process looks like when diabetes is on your file.
- No exam, no needles, no doctor's letter. The application is 14 plain-language health questions plus your height and weight. A couple of the questions cover your diabetes. None of them require a lab result or an A1C printout, and if you say yes to something we ask a follow-up instead of failing you.
- Insulin, pills or diet-managed, you get an offer. How you manage your diabetes shapes which offer, meaning the coverage amount, the length and whether full coverage starts on day one or after 24 months. It never decides whether you get one. Every applicant aged 18 to 80 does.
- Declined before? Common here. A large share of our customers were told no elsewhere first. We ask our own questions and make our own offer.
- Your price on your screen, before any payment. There is no email wall and no callback required to see a number. Your price locks to today's age, and rates go up on your birthday, not before.
- A decision within 24 hours. Not three to six weeks. After you apply we check the MIB, an industry database that flags previously disclosed conditions, in the background. It needs nothing from you.
- Price locked, coverage that stays. Once approved, your premium is guaranteed for the full term. It cannot go up, and your coverage cannot be cancelled, because your health changes. A harder year with your diabetes does not touch the policy you hold.
- 30-day free look. Not happy? A full refund of everything you have paid within the first 30 days.
What a 24-month deferral means, in three sentences
What a 24-month deferral means, on a timeline
If your health history is more complicated, your offer may start with a 24-month deferral. Accidental death is covered in full from day one, and if death from natural causes happens inside the first 24 months, every premium you paid is returned to your beneficiary; Oneday keeps nothing. After 24 months, the full amount is payable for any cause, and healthier answers get full coverage from day one with no deferral at all.
How to get the strongest possible offer with diabetes
- Apply while you are stable, not when you are perfect. Six to twelve months of consistent treatment is what most underwriting looks for. You do not need to hit a target first.
- Know your numbers before you start. Your last A1C, your medications and doses, and your diagnosis year. You will not be asked for documents, but accurate answers get you a better offer and protect your family at claim time.
- Disclose everything, including the things you think are minor. Life insurance policies carry a two-year contestability period, and insurers can check medical backgrounds through the MIB and physician records. An honest "yes" to a question costs you a follow-up. A hidden one can cost your beneficiary the claim.
- Be a non-smoker for 12 months if you can. It is the largest single discount in life insurance, and it stacks with everything else.
- Right-size the coverage. Use the DIME method: remaining Debts, Income your family relies on times the number of years they would need it, the Mortgage balance, and Education costs for children. A number you can actually afford to keep in force beats a bigger one that lapses.
- Do not settle for the bank's mortgage insurance instead. Lender coverage is often post-claim underwritten, shrinks as you pay the mortgage down, and pays the bank rather than your family. Our mortgage insurance vs term life comparison explains why a personal policy usually wins, diabetes or not.
- Apply before your next birthday. Rates are set by age nearest birthday, so a half-birthday is a real deadline.
Conclusion
Diabetes changes the conversation about life insurance. It does not end it. Stable Type 2 is routinely priced near standard. Type 1, insulin use and complications usually cost more per dollar of coverage and may mean a smaller maximum amount, but a policy is still on the table, and on the no-exam route it can be on the table within 24 hours. The worst outcome is not a higher premium. It is the family of someone who waited for a better A1C, or gave up after one decline, and never bought coverage at all.
If you want to see where your answers land, the whole application runs online and your price is printed on the page before you commit to anything. If you would rather talk a tricky question through with a human first, licensed advisors are at 1 800 655 2795, and they will take your application exactly where you left it.
Frequently asked questions
Can Type 1 diabetics get life insurance in Canada?
Yes. Type 1 is treated as higher risk than Type 2 by underwriters, so the price per dollar of coverage is usually higher and some traditional insurers decline it outright. Simplified issue and guaranteed issue routes exist precisely for this situation. At Oneday, every applicant aged 18 to 80 receives an offer, Type 1 included; your answers shape the amount, the price and whether a 24-month deferral applies.
Does being on insulin mean I will be declined?
Not here. Insulin use is one factor among several: how long you have had diabetes, your control, complications, weight, blood pressure and smoking all count. Taking the insulin your doctor prescribed is a sign of a managed condition, not an unmanaged one. However you manage your diabetes, you get an offer; what varies is the shape of it.
Do I need an A1C test, blood work or a medical exam?
Not with Oneday, at any age or coverage amount. There is no exam, no needles, no A1C printout and no doctor's letter. The 14-question application is the underwriting. Fully underwritten policies from traditional insurers do require blood and urine tests and often a physician's statement.
Will I pay more for life insurance because of diabetes?
Often, yes. Well-controlled Type 2 without complications can land close to standard pricing. Type 1, a recent diagnosis, insulin dependence or complications usually mean a higher price or a smaller maximum amount. Whatever the number is, you see it before you pay anything, and it never goes up later because your health changes.
I was declined by another insurer because of my diabetes. Can I still get coverage?
Yes. A decline with another company reflects that company's rules, and it does not affect your application here. A large share of Oneday customers were told no somewhere else first. We ask our own 14 questions and make our own offer, and every applicant aged 18 to 80 gets one.
Does prediabetes or gestational diabetes count?
Prediabetes and a past gestational diabetes diagnosis are usually treated much more lightly than Type 1 or Type 2, and many applicants with either land at standard pricing. Disclose them when asked; a follow-up question is not a decline.
What if I have complications like neuropathy or kidney disease?
Complications change the picture more than the diabetes itself, and usually mean a smaller maximum amount, a higher price, or a 24-month deferral on natural-cause death. They do not close the door: even the hardest files qualify for a guaranteed permanent policy with acceptance guaranteed from ages 18 to 80.
How long does approval take with diabetes?
At Oneday, the application takes about 10 minutes and a decision arrives within 24 hours. Fully underwritten policies that require an exam and records typically take three to eight weeks, and diabetes on the file often adds time because the insurer requests physician statements.
Where is Oneday available?
Seven provinces: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Who underwrites my policy?
Oneday is a third-party administrator. Every policy we issue is underwritten by Humania Assurance Inc., a Canadian life insurer founded in 1874.
Sources
- Diabetes Canada, Diabetes in Canada: national backgrounder (2024 prevalence estimates).
- Diabetes Canada, Insurance and diabetes: your rights.
- Public Health Agency of Canada, Diabetes in Canada: an interactive report on key statistics.
- Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines, glycemic targets for adults (A1C 7.0% or lower for most adults).
