What is critical illness insurance?
With medical advances, many people survive illnesses that used to often result in death. But the treatment and recovery period for these illnesses can often be long and, without proper planning, this could result in a strain on your finances. If you’re diagnosed with a covered life-threatening illness, critical illness insurance can pay a lump sum to help with:
Medical expenses not covered by your provincial health care plan
Home care expenses (such as a nurse or housekeeper)
The cost of going to a private clinic or getting out-of-country care
Special medical equipment (such as a wheelchair)
A home renovation or vehicle conversion to make it easy for you to get around
Travel for medical appointments or treatments
Childcare expenses
How does our critical illness insurance work?
Critical illness insurance is a unique type of insurance that will pay a lump sum should the insured survive a covered critical illness. Once the insured has satisfied a specific period of time, sometimes known as a Survival Period, the funds are paid directly to the insured to assist in the recovery and added expenses associated with that particular condition. There are many factors to consider when choosing a critical illness plan, so it’s important to understand how your plan works, and which factors can have an impact on your policy and its values.
For more information, please see our full list of 25 covered conditions.
Benefits of critical illness insurance plans
Our critical illness policies are designed to be flexible to meet your changing insurance needs. You can increase your insurance coverage or add other types of coverage as required (subject to availability and proof of insurability). You can also decrease your coverage, subject to plan minimums.
Coverage options
You have the choice of several Living Benefit plans with the following terms: 10 years, 20 years, “to age 75” or “to age 100” footnote 1
Renew with confidence
You can renew your coverage with the 10 and 20-year term options with renewal premiums that are guaranteed when you first buy your policy. For the “to age 75” or “to age 100” options, premiums are fixed and level for as long as you have the policy.
BMO Insurance Health Advocate™ Plan
With Living Benefit Plans from BMO Insurance you will also have access to the BMO Insurance Health Advocate™ Plan, an industry leading, comprehensive assistance service – at no additional cost. footnote 2
Your critical illness insurance options
With BMO Insurance, you can get critical illness coverage as a standalone plan or as a rider on our Term, Whole Life, Term 100, and Universal Life plans.
Living Benefit 10 and 20 plans
Automatic renewal of your 10 or 20-year coverage until you are 75, without needing to take medical exams. Your premiums are based on your age at renewal.- Convert to a permanent Living Benefit 75 or 100 policy
- Optional Return of Premium on Death benefit (R O P D)
Living Benefit 75 and 100 plans
- Coverage to age 75 or 100
- Premiums guaranteed never to increase
- Premiums for Living Benefit 100 plan can also be paid over 15 years
- Optional Return of Premium on Death (R O P D) benefit
- Optional Return of Premium on Surrender or Expiry (R O P S) benefits footnote 3
How to apply for critical illness insurance
Follow these steps to get critical illness insurance protection.
Get a quote
Use the Critical Illness get a quote tool and speak to an insurance advisor.
Choose
Select your policy term length and additional coverage benefits.
Apply footnote 5
Complete your application with your advisor to obtain coverage.
Frequently asked questions about critical illness insurance
Critical insurance costs can vary depending on your age, the coverage amount and the kinds of riders you’d like to add.
The following plans offer a critical illness rider:
Ask yourself these questions:
- Can I afford to take time off work if I get sick or have an accident?
- Will I be able to afford prescription drugs not covered by my work health care plan or private health insurance?
- Will I have funds to seek treatment outside of Canada or pay for uncovered experimental treatments?
Workplace disability insurance may not be enough if a life-altering critical illness keeps you home or in the hospital. Childcare, home care, living expenses, travelling to and from treatment, medications – when these and other unforeseen expenses add up, so can the financial pressure on you and your family. If you’re concerned about any of these issues and want peace of mind going forward, consider the advantages of critical illness and/or accident insurance.
Critical illness insurance is a unique type of insurance that will pay a lump sum should the insured survive a covered critical illness.
Yes. Once the insured has satisfied the Survival Period, the funds are paid directly to the insured to assist in the recovery and added expenses associated with that particular condition.
Insights and tools
Early discovery benefits
Learn what they are and how they can help protect your finances (and your health).
Critical illness insurance can provide a financial safety net
Learn about the cost of getting sick and what you can do about it.
Critical Illness Calculator
How much coverage do you need? Tell us a bit about yourself and we’ll calculate the amount of critical illness insurance you need to protect your family.
Contact us
There are various ways to get in touch. Choose your preferred method.
Call us
Please give us a call Monday – Friday from 9am to 6pm E S T.
Let us contact you
Have a licensed insurance advisor contact you.
Get a quote
Use the critical illness insurance quote tool and speak to an insurance advisor.
- Footnote 1 details Coverage expires at age 75 for the 10, 20 and “to age 75” plans, and at age 100 for the “to age 100” plan.
- Footnote 2 details BMO Insurance offers the services on a referral basis only and will not charge you for the services provided. TELUS Health (Canada) Ltd. and Teladoc Health, Inc. will not charge you for the services they provide. You may, however, incur additional costs for services or for providers that may be referred to you by TELUS Health (Canada) Ltd. or Teladoc Health, Inc. These additional charges are incurred at your sole discretion and BMO Insurance will not be liable for their payment.
- Footnote 3 details ROPS will return the sum of the eligible premiumsfootnote 4 paid on the surrendered Critical Illness Benefit amount from the Policy Effective Date to the Option Election Date.
- Footnote 4 details Eligible premium includes the policy’s annual premium, modal loading, policy fee, medical extras plus any ROPS/ROPX or ROPD rider premiums if elected. Refer to the policy contract for details.
- Footnote 5 details Subject to full underwriting requirements.
This information is only a summary. Actual terms, exclusions and limitations are explained in the policy.
Issuer: BMO Life Assurance Company