Our calculation method, nothing hidden

What we add

• Your debts, mortgage included, so your family keeps the house, without the payments.
• The household’s standard of living: 70% of the couple’s combined net income, minus your partner’s net income (they keep working). In present value, over a horizon tied to your situation: until your youngest child turns 23 (between 5 and 20 years of protection), 7 years if your partner depends on your income, 2 years for a dual-income couple with no children.
• An education fund: $25,000 per child ($15,000 if an RESP is already under way), roughly what CEGEP plus university costs in Quebec while living at home.
• Final expenses: $15,000. For scale, in 2026 the SAAQ reimburses funeral costs up to $8,727 and the CNESST up to $6,612. We add estate settlement costs and a cushion.
• Work in the home: a parent with no employment income isn’t “worth nothing”. Replacing what they do (childcare, meals, logistics) would cost about $30,000 a year. We count it until the youngest child turns 18, between $250,000 and $750,000 (the range the profession recommends).

What we subtract

• QPP benefits: the orphan’s pension ($307.81/month per child, 2026, counted only until each child turns 18) and the surviving spouse’s pension, at the official 2026 amounts based on the survivor’s situation: $719.50/month if under 45 without a child, $1,129.95 if under 45 with a child, $1,173.58 from 45 to 64, $881.48 at 65 and over. These amounts are scaled to your contributions, meaning your income relative to the YMPE of $74,600. Since these benefits are taxable, we count them net: the actual tax on the pension stacked on top of the survivor’s income is subtracted, in present value. Plus the $2,500 death benefit, taxable in the estate. The QPP disability pension, on the other hand, is never counted: its criteria (“severe and permanent disability”) are too strict to rely on.
• Your savings and investments, weighted: an RRSP left with no spouse is taxed at death (we then count it at 55-75% of its value), a TFSA passes on in full.
• Your current life insurance: group coverage is counted at 75%, because it disappears if you change jobs. The bank’s mortgage insurance is counted at roughly your loan balance.

The result, rounded to the nearest $25,000, is your net coverage need. If it comes out negative or close to zero, we say so: you’re self-insured or already well covered.

• The target: replacing 70 to 85% of your net income depending on your income level, a sliding scale modelled on insurers’ actual issue limits (showing more would be fiction: no insurer would issue it).
• Public programs aren’t enough, and we explain why: Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits cover at best 26 weeks at 55% (max $729/week, taxable), and self-employed workers generally don’t qualify. The QPP disability pension requires a “severe and permanent” disability preventing any job. CNESST and SAAQ only cover workplace and road accidents, yet most disabilities come from illness. We mention them, but we don’t subtract them from your need: that’s the conservative call.
• If you have group coverage, we estimate what it would actually pay (by default: 60% of gross, capped, taxable if the employer pays the premium; typical market values) and calculate the gap to fill, in net dollars per month.

The suggested amount works out to about one year of your net income (minimum $25,000, maximum $200,000): enough to get through treatment and recovery without going into debt or raiding your RRSPs. For perspective: a cancer diagnosis costs the average Canadian patient $33,000 over the course of the illness, in out-of-pocket costs and lost income (Canadian Cancer Society, December 2024 special report on the economic impact of cancer).

Our premium estimates are calibrated on real Canadian market prices compiled in August 2026 (5-year age bands interpolated: no price jump on your birthday) (independent comparison sites and insurer rate schedules). They account for your age, your smoking status, the amount (large face amounts cost less per $100,000 of coverage), your sex if you provided it, and, for disability, your type of work, the variable that weighs most on price. For disability, the range shown is deliberately wide (−25% to +40%): the actual price depends heavily on the product you choose: benefit period (2 years or to age 65), “own occupation” definition, level or renewable premiums.

We show a range, never a figure to the dollar: your actual premium will depend on your health, your habits and the product you choose. Only an insurer’s quote, after underwriting, is binding.

Your score out of 100 is the sum of three sub-scores: life insurance (out of 40), income protection (out of 40) and critical illness (out of 20), minus a few points if your emergency cushion covers less than 3 months. Each sub-score reflects the gap between your situation and your coverage, not the number of products you own. Being well covered without insurance (because you don’t need any) earns an excellent score: that’s by design.

• This check-up is an information and guidance tool. It is not insurance advice, nor an offer of a product, nor the formal financial needs analysis required by Quebec regulation. That one will be done with a certified advisor before any application.
• It doesn’t know your health, your medical history or your contracts in detail: actual underwriting may differ from the ranges shown.
• Assumptions are reviewed at least once a year; between two updates, some government amounts may have been indexed.