A GUIDE TO CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE
5
GETTING STARTED
What does critical illness insurance cover in Canada?
This kind of insurance was first introduced in Canada in 1994. While it was initially
intended to cover only a limited number of conditions, the product has evolved. Critical
illness insurance policies include a wide range of covered conditions, including childhood
illnesses, and come with a variety of options and additional benefits that we will explain in
this guide.
Since 2008, Canadian health insurers have worked together through the Canadian Life
and Health Insurance Association to make the definitions of conditions covered by critical
illness insurance more uniform, so they are easier for consumers and insurance agents to
understand across policies.
While the public healthcare system in Canada covers costs for many procedures,
surgeries and treatments, patients can find themselves dealing with unforeseen costs
such as:
• high cost of medications not covered by the government or your medical plan
• travel expenses for treatment
• time off work for your caregivers or other family needs that arise in the face of
a severe illness.
Critical illness coverage can provide money to cover these kinds of costs.
"Life insurance was needed
because young people died.
Critical illness was needed
because people survived."
- Dr. Marius Barnard, Cover magazine, July 2011
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