Canada Protection Plan review

On the evidence, yes: Canada Protection Plan holds an A (Excellent) financial-strength rating from AM Best (2024) — an independent agency’s verdict on its ability to pay claims. Rating belongs to underwriter Foresters/IOF (also DBRS A). One tier below the A+ Superior leaders.

Canada Protection Plan stands out for no-medical & hard-to-insure applicants. Broadest no-medical / guaranteed-acceptance lineup in Canada, and a-rated Foresters backing; fast issuance; national. If those things matter most to you, it’s worth a close look; if your priority is something else, compare it against the companies that rate highest on that pillar.

The watch-outs we found: premiums well above underwritten — poor value if you’re healthy; guaranteed-acceptance often deferred 2 years; service complaints. We spell these out so you can weigh them before buying — every insurer has trade-offs, and knowing them upfront is the point of a real review.

Canada Protection Plan ranks #10 of the 10 life insurance providers we scored, at 79.4/100. It’s strongest on availability and has the most room to improve on value & savings.

Work down the ladder, because each rung trades price for accessibility. Start at Preferred Elite Term if you are healthy and willing to be medically underwritten — it is the cheapest and goes to $1 million. If you want no medical at all and can answer 'no' to every health question, Express Elite binds up to $750,000 instantly with coverage from day one. If some answers are 'yes' but your conditions are managed, Simplified Elite gives immediate full coverage up to about $500,000. If you are declined there, Deferred Elite accepts you but limits the benefit for two years. Guaranteed Acceptance, capped at $50,000, is the floor for anyone else.

It depends on how you die and when. Accidental death is covered in full from day one on the deferred products — the limitation applies only to non-accidental death. For non-accidental death in the first policy year, CPP returns the premiums you have paid plus 3% simple interest. In the second year, the Deferred Elite products pay 50% of the face amount. From the start of year three, the full death benefit applies normally. The Guaranteed Acceptance permanent plan works similarly, returning premiums paid on non-accidental death within the first two years. This is why you should only accept a deferred product if the immediate-coverage rungs have genuinely turned you down.

CPP is not the insurer. It was founded in 1992 as a Canadian insurance intermediary that designs and distributes products, and its policies are underwritten and paid by Foresters Life Insurance Company, a federally regulated Canadian life insurer and one of North America's largest simplified-issue providers. Foresters holds an A (Excellent) financial strength rating from AM Best. So your contract is with Foresters, and Foresters pays your claim. Since 2020 CPP policyholders have also had access to Foresters member benefits at no extra cost, including scholarships and legal document preparation. CPP itself is BBB-accredited but not currently BBB-rated on customer reviews.

Meaningfully more, and you should quantify it before committing. Industry analysis places no-medical premiums roughly 40-80% above comparable fully underwritten coverage. A concrete comparison from PolicyMe, for a non-smoking female wanting $500,000 over ten years, shows about $22.68 a month from a fully underwritten insurer against $34.20 from a no-medical insurer at age 30, and $82.73 against $107.10 at age 50. If you are in good health, get a fully underwritten quote first — the medical exam is a couple of hours of inconvenience against years of higher premiums. If you have been declined elsewhere, that markup is simply the cost of being insurable at all.

Yes, and this is one of CPP's genuinely distinctive positions. It accepts temporary residents including people on student and work visas, where most Canadian insurers require permanent residency or citizenship. Combined with an application of roughly 20 yes/no questions and decisions inside 48 to 72 hours, that makes CPP one of the few realistic options for a newcomer who needs coverage in place before establishing a long Canadian medical and residency history. Expect to pay no-medical rates for the privilege, and expect the same $1 million overall ceiling that applies to everyone — CPP does not write universal life at all.