When you buy a home, you want security to go with it. Mortgage Life Insurance1 can help protect what’s likely one of your family’s most important assets by paying off or reducing your mortgage loan in the event of your death. 

Mortgage Life Insurance is underwritten by The Canada Life Assurance Company (Canada Life). Purchase of this insurance is optional and is not required to obtain any CIBC product or service.

Did you know?

Almost one-quarter (23%) of Canadians say they aren’t at all financially prepared if they were to pass away too soon2.

Coverage and maximum benefit

Your CIBC mortgage balance is reduced or paid off up to $1,000,000.

For further details, please refer to the Certificate of Insurance for CIBC Mortgages (PDF, 310 KB) Opens in a new window.

What does Mortgage Life Insurance cost?

Your Mortgage Life Insurance premium† is based on your age on the date of your insurance application, the initial insured amount of your mortgage and the applicable premium rate from the rate table below.

Mortgage Life Insurance monthly premium rates per $1,000 of the initial insured amount of your mortgage (applicable taxes will be added to your premium):

Age group

Coverage
Under 30 $0.08
30 to 35 $0.14
36 to 40 $0.21
41 to 45 $0.31
46 to 50 $0.46
51 to 55 $0.59
56 to 60 $0.76
61 to 64 $1.03

Your monthly Mortgage Life Insurance premium = the initial insured amount of your mortgage ÷ 1,000 × applicable premium rate.

You may be eligible for discounts on your premium

You may be eligible for discounts on your Mortgage Life Insurance premiums. These discounts (tiered, joint, and bundle) can be combined and applied on top of or in addition to one another in this order: tiered, joint, and bundle.

Savings for initial insured amounts over $300,000 (Tiered Discount)

  • No discount will be applied to your Life Insurance premium for initial insured amounts up to $300,000.
  • A 25% discount will be applied to your Life Insurance premium for initial insured amounts over $300,000, up to $500,000.
  • A 35% discount will be applied to your Life Insurance premium for initial insured amounts over $500,000, up to $1,000,000.

An example of a Mortgage Life Insurance premium calculation with a tiered discount:

You are 36 years old on the date of your insurance application and the Initial Insured Amount of your mortgage loan is $700,000. The monthly mortgage insurance premium would be calculated as follows:

Premium rate applicable for a 36 year old: $0.21 per $1,000 of the initial insured amount.

  • Premium for initial insured amount up to $300,000: ($300,000/1,000) X 0.21 = $63.00
  • Premium for initial insured amount over $300,000 and up to $500,000: ($200,000/1,000) X 0.21 X 0.75 = $31.50.
  • Premium for initial insured amount over $500,000 and up to $700,000: ($200,000/1,000) X 0.21 X 0.65 = $27.30.

Your monthly Life Insurance premium with a tiered discount will be $63.00 + $31.50 + $27.30 = $121.80 plus applicable taxes.

Savings for two applicants (joint discount):

If you and another borrower or guarantor on the mortgage loan apply, and are approved for Life Insurance on this mortgage loan, each insured person will receive a 15% discount on their Life Insurance premium.

Example: Assuming the same facts as in the tiered discount example above (and applying the tiered discount to the premium calculation), if co-borrower on the mortgage loan is also approved for Life Insurance, the monthly premium would be calculated as follows:

For you: $121.80 X 0.85 = $103.53 plus applicable taxes. 

Note: the 15% joint discount will also be applied to your co-borrower’s monthly Life Insurance premium (calculation not provided in this example). 

Save more with more than one coverage type (bundle discount):

If more than one coverage type is approved under the mortgage loan (i.e., in addition to Mortgage Life, Mortgage Critical Illness Insurance, Mortgage Disability Insurance and/or Mortgage Disability Insurance Plus is approved for one insured person, or between co-borrowers and/or guarantors), all insured persons under the mortgage loan will receive a 5% discount on their premiums for all their coverages on the mortgage loan.

Example: Assuming the same facts as in the tiered discount example (and applying the tiered and joint discount to the premium calculation), if a co-borrower on the mortgage loan is approved for both Life Insurance and Disability Insurance, your monthly Life Insurance premium will be calculated as follows:  

For you: $103.53 X 0.95 = $98.35 plus applicable taxes. 

Note: the 5% bundle discount will also be applied to your co-borrower’s monthly Life Insurance and Disability Insurance premium (calculation not provided in this example). 

Use the Mortgage Payment Calculator to help calculate your estimated mortgage payment, including estimated mortgage creditor insurance premiums.

† If your CIBC mortgage payment frequency is other than monthly, your insurance premium will be adjusted accordingly.

Am I eligible to apply for Life Insurance for CIBC Mortgages?

To be eligible to apply for Life Insurance on your CIBC mortgage loan, you must:

  • be approved for the mortgage;
  • be a Canadian resident†;
  • be 18 to 64†† years old;
  • be a borrower, co-borrower or guarantor on the mortgage; and
  • have less than $1,000,000 of life insurance coverage on all your life-insured CIBC mortgage loans.

† A person who: 

  • has lived in Canada for a total of 183 days or more during the 365 days prior to the date of your insurance application (days do not need to be consecutive); or 
  • is a member of the Canadian Forces.

†† Available for clients age 65 or over and under age 70 under Prior Coverage Recognition (PCR).

Making a claim

You can make a claim using the claim form below (also available at CIBC Banking Centres) or by calling the CIBC Creditor Insurance Helpline at 1-800-465-6020 Opens your phone app.. We recommend that you make a claim as soon as possible following an insured event.

Notice and proof of claim must be made to Canada Life within one year (3 years in Quebec) from the date of death. Refer to the claim form for further details:

Life insurance claim form (PDF, 560 KB) Opens a new window.

  Tip: Download the form by right-clicking the file and selecting “Save link as.” You can then open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Important documents and other information

Important documents

Your Certificate of Insurance will contain the full details of your coverage, including benefits, cost, eligibility conditions, limitations and exclusions.

To help you make an informed decision, you can access a sample certificate of insurance and other important documents below.

  Tip: Download the form by right-clicking the file and selecting “Save link as.” You can then open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Information about CIBC

CIBC receives fees from the insurer, The Canada Life Assurance Company, for providing services to the insurer regarding this insurance. Also, the risk under the group policy may be reinsured, in whole or in part, to a reinsurer affiliated with CIBC. The reinsurer earns reinsurance income under this arrangement. Representatives promoting this insurance on behalf of CIBC may receive compensation  

Frequently asked questions

Get started

Call us at 1-866-321-3639 Opens your phone app.
Find a CIBC Banking Centre Opens in a new window.

For more information about product terms and conditions or further assistance, call CIBC's Creditor Insurance Helpline at 1-800-465-6020 Opens your phone app..

Terms and conditions

1 Mortgage Life Insurance is an optional creditor's group insurance underwritten by The Canada Life Assurance Company (Canada Life) and administered by Canada Life and CIBC. CIBC receives fees from Canada Life for providing services to Canada Life regarding this insurance. Also, the risk under the group insurance policy may be reinsured, in whole or in part, to a reinsurer affiliated with CIBC. The reinsurer earns reinsurance income under this arrangement. Representatives promoting this insurance on behalf of CIBC may receive compensation. This insurance is subject to eligibility conditions, limitations and exclusions (which are circumstances when benefits are limited or not paid). For the complete terms and conditions, review the sample Certificate of Insurance (PDF, 275 KB) Opens in a new window.. You can also contact Canada Life at 1-800-387-4495 Opens your phone app.. Or you can visit canadalife.com Opens in a new window.. The information in these pages is general only. Products and their features may change at any time. In case of discrepancy between the information and examples provided on these pages and your Certificate of Insurance, your Certificate of Insurance prevails.

2 Source: Edward Jones via Leger online panel of 1564 Canadians in Oct 2016.


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