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- You have access to the policy’s cash value during your lifetime.
- The policy’s cash value can grow over your lifetime.
What is whole life insurance?
In Canada, whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that gives you lifelong coverage. Some whole life insurance policies may include a savings portion called the cash value. Your policy’s cash value allows you to access additional funds during your lifetime.
Our whole life insurance products
SunSpectrum Permanent Life II
- Get coverage up to $25 million.
- Policy can cover up to two people.
- Lifelong protection with cash value.
- You’ll need to provide medical information.
Ideal for people who:
- Want to provide their family with income replacement if they die.
- Need to pay for end-of-life expenses.
- Want to help ensure their loved ones are not left with debt to take care of.
- Want guaranteed premiums that never rise.
- Want to leave an estate for loved ones or provide a gift to their favorite charity.
Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance
- Get coverage up to $25,000.
- Policy covers one person.
- Lifelong protection.
- Guaranteed life insurance with no medical questions asked.
- You’re guaranteed to qualify even if you have existing health conditions.
Ideal for people who:
- Want to buy life insurance online quickly.
- Want to cover end-of-life expenses.
- Need insurance and have had trouble qualifying for life insurance in the past.
Get whole life insurance
Get a quote from an advisor
Not sure which whole life insurance product is right for you? A Sun Life advisor can help you figure it out and get you a customized quote for any of our products.
Enter your postal code to find an advisor near you.
Get a quote and buy online
Looking for coverage up to $25,000? Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance may be right for you. Get a quote.
Benefits of whole life insurance
Lifelong coverage
You get coverage that lasts a lifetime as long as you pay your premiums.
Fixed premiums
Your premiums stay the same even if your health changes.
Guaranteed tax-free death benefit
Your beneficiaries will get a tax-free payment after you die.
How to get permanent life insurance online
Step 1
Select the amount of coverage you want – anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000* – to see the monthly cost. You can adjust the coverage amount before you apply.
* Insurance is sold in units of $5,000.
Step 2
Review your policy details. To finish your application, submit the rest of your details through the secure check out. This includes:
- Contact details
- Payment details
- Answers to the health questionnaire, if applicable
Step 3
You’ll get instant approval for coverage up to $25,000. There’s no waiting period and no medical exam required.
If you require coverage over $25,000, you’ll have to get a quote and apply through an advisor.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cost of your life insurance premiums (monthly or annual fees) depends on various factors, including the product you select, your age, your assigned sex at birth, your current health and how much insurance you need.
See our Whole Life Rates to find out how much a whole life policy might cost you
Part of each premium payment goes towards your policy’s cash value. You can access the cash value later in life by taking a loan against the cash value or by taking a partial withdrawal from your policy. This is helpful for peace of mind, knowing that you have extra funds. These funds can be used for anything, like unexpected expenses or to supplement your income.
When you borrow against your policy’s cash value, you’ll be charged interest. But rates are typically lower than taking a personal loan or home equity loan.
Unpaid loans also reduce the cash value of the policy or, depending on your policy, can reduce the final death benefit of your policy. There may be additional tax implications from borrowing against your policy’s cash value.
Withdrawing money from your policy is also known as a partial cash surrender. Partial cash surrenders will reduce the final death benefit of your policy.
You can also surrender the whole policy to receive the entire available cash value (less some fees). However, this cancels your policy, and the death benefit will no longer be available to your beneficiaries.
Keep in mind, even though you can repay a policy loan and restore your policy's cash value and death benefit amounts, you can’t repay a withdrawal. A withdrawal results in a permanent reduction in the policy's cash value and death benefit. There may also be tax implications from taking a partial withdrawal or surrendering your policy.
For our SunSpectrum Permanent Life II product, a $25K whole life policy may cost between $20.23 – $466.22 monthly for males and $18.02 – $415.22 for females, depending on your age. 1
For our Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance product, a $25K whole life policy may cost between $42.12 – $550.67 monthly for males and $34.43 – $316.58 for females, depending on your age. 2
1 These numbers apply to the lowest potential rate for a male and female non-smoker, life pay at the age of 18 and the highest potential rate for a male and female smoker, life pay at the age of 85.
2 These numbers apply to the lowest potential rate for a male and female non-smoker, life pay at the age of 30 and the highest potential rate for a male and female smoker, life pay at the age of 74. Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance offers insurance amounts from $5,000 to $25,000.
For our SunSpectrum Permanent Life II product, a $50K whole life policy may cost between $29.75 – $900.18 monthly for males and $26.33 – $769.50 for females, depending on your age. 1
1 These numbers apply to the lowest potential rate for a male and female non-smoker, life pay at the age of 18 and the highest potential rate for a male and female smoker, life pay at the age of 85.
For our SunSpectrum Permanent Life II product, a $100K whole life policy may cost between $50.58 – $1,784.34 monthly for males and $45.00 - $1,395.54 for females, depending on your age. 1
1 These numbers apply to the lowest potential rate for a male and female non-smoker, life pay at the age of 18 and the highest potential rate for a male and female smoker, life pay at the age of 85.
For our SunSpectrum Permanent Life II product, a $500K whole life policy may cost between $182.25 – $7,574.40 monthly for males and $146.70 – $6,260.85 for females, depending on your age. 1
1 These numbers apply to the lowest potential rate for a male and female non-smoker, life pay at the age of 18 and the highest potential rate for a male and female smoker, life pay at the age of 85.
In general, you pay premiums for whole life insurance until you pass away. But some products give you the option of paying for lifetime coverage over 10, 15, or 20 years. These options will raise your premiums since you are front loading the payments.
The death benefit from a whole life insurance policy is tax-free. However, some whole life policies come with a cash value component, which can grow on a tax-preferred basis. This means you won’t have to pay tax on cash-value growth. Please note, there may be tax implications from borrowing against your cash value or surrendering your policy.
You can cash out of some whole life insurance policies. This means you’ll receive the cash value on your policy (less some fees), and your policy will be cancelled. Part of the money you receive may be taxable.
You also have the option to borrow from your policy if you have a cash value savings component. Keep in mind that doing this may reduce your death benefit.
If your whole life insurance policy comes with cash value, you can borrow against a portion of it. How much you can borrow depends on how much you have available in your policy's cash value.
You can borrow once you have the minimum required cash value in your life insurance policy, which is $250. You must have that much in your cash value in order to borrow from it.
Some whole life insurance policies begin to accumulate cash value after 3 years.
Sun Life has participating whole life plans, which give you the chance to earn dividends.
Usually, yes. Most permanent life insurance policies require a medical exam to assess your health and set your premium rate. Here's what the application process typically includes:
- A medical questionnaire. You'll answer questions about your health history, lifestyle, and family medical background. This helps the insurance company understand your overall health.
- A medical exam. A healthcare professional will check your height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate. These medical exams can affect your coverage.
Some policies offer simplified underwriting with higher premiums.
If you want to skip the medical exam, you have options. Simplified issue policies like Sun Life GO Guaranteed Life Insurance ask about your smoking status and some health questions, but don't require any medical tests. No medical exam policies approve you without any health checks at all. These policies may cost more because the insurance company takes on more risk without knowing your exact health status.
The medical exam might feel like an extra step, but it can work in your favour. Better health can mean lower premiums and more coverage options.
A Sun Life advisor can explain which application process fits your situation and help you find coverage that meets your needs and budget.
Life insurance provides you with a benefit for the unexpected. However, in some cases, you may end up paying more than the actual death benefit that goes to your beneficiaries. For example, you're aged 48 and purchase $25,000 of Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance for $60 per month. By the time you reach age 82, you'll have paid more than your total death benefit. If your death happens before age 82, you'll have paid less for your death benefit.
At Sun Life, coverage for $25,000 or less starts when you complete your application online.
For life insurance coverage between $50,000 and $1 million, we will review your application. Your actual policy starts the first day of the month after we approve your application.
Yes, there are exclusions that apply. Exclusions are circumstances where your death benefit won’t be paid out. See all the exclusions and limitations by product in the sample policies below:
Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance (whole life insurance) sample policy
Sun Life Go Term Life Insurance sample policy
Sun Life Go Simplified Term Life Insurance sample policy
Other exclusions may apply. Connect with an advisor for more detailed information
You can cancel your policy at any time. If you cancel within 30 days of issue, we’ll refund your money.
To cancel your life insurance policy, mail a written request to:
Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada
P.O. Box 2001, Stn Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
N3J 0A3
If you need to change or cancel your application, give us a call.
Call: 1-844-528-0583
Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET
Additional resources
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Term vs. whole life insurance
Understand the differences between these two popular types of life insurance.
This information is meant for educational and illustrative purposes only. Some conditions, exclusions and restrictions apply. Sun Life does not offer any legal, tax or accounting advice.