Canada Life vs Sun Life: Compare Health Insurance Plans
Canada Life and Sun Life are the two carriers in our lineup whose top medically underwritten plans both reach roughly a quarter million dollars of annual prescription drug coverage, so for catastrophic drug risk this is the closest contest we publish. Canada Life packages eight Freedom to Choose plans; Sun Life spreads ten plans across Personal Health Insurance, applied for anytime with underwriting, and Health Coverage Choice, its guaranteed issue conversion line. Both sell in twelve provinces and territories.
Where they part ways: Canada Life offers a guaranteed acceptance plan anyone can buy without medical questions, which Sun Life does not, and a 75 dollar eye exam allowance against Sun Life’s 50. Sun Life builds one million dollars of 60 day travel coverage into its mid and upper tiers, offers orthodontics on Personal Health Insurance Enhanced, and skips the per person dental deductible Canada Life charges on Select plans.
At a glance
| Feature | Canada Life | Sun Life |
|---|---|---|
| Provinces available | 12 provinces and territories (not offered in Quebec) | 12 provinces and territories (not offered in Quebec) |
| Plan options | 8 plans across 2 plan families | 10 plans across 2 plan families |
| Underwriting options | Guaranteed acceptance, Medically underwritten, Guaranteed issue | Medically underwritten, Guaranteed issue |
| Plan tiers | Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum | Bronze, Gold, Platinum |
Benefit-by-benefit comparison
The summaries below come from the published plan documents for each carrier. Exact limits vary by tier, so treat these as the range you can expect across each lineup, then check the tier you would actually buy on our plans directory.
Drugs
- Canada LifeListed in 8 of 8 plans
- Brand and generic drugs covered. Select tiers run from 70 percent with a 500 dollar maximum through Select Plus at 80 percent to 10,000 dollars, up to Select Elite at 90 percent of the first 10,000 dollars then 100 percent of the next 240,000 dollars. Guaranteed conversion tiers cap at 1,000 to 2,400 dollars.
- Sun LifeListed in 10 of 10 plans
- Generic only, with a pay-direct drug card and no deductible. Personal Health Insurance Standard covers 70 percent of the first 7,000 dollars then 100 percent of the next 93,000 dollars; Enhanced covers 80 percent of the first 5,000 dollars then 100 percent of the next 245,000 dollars. The Health Coverage Choice conversion line caps at 500 to 2,600 dollars.
Routine Dental
- Canada LifeListed in 7 of 8 plans
- Select plans apply a 25 dollar per person deductible and a three month no-claims wait, then pay 70 to 80 percent of routine services up to 350 to 1,000 dollars. Guaranteed Plus and Elite cover routine dental at 80 to 85 percent up to 1,000 to 2,000 dollars, while the base Guaranteed tier has no routine dental.
- Sun LifeListed in 6 of 10 plans
- No deductibles. Health Coverage Choice covers exams, white fillings, scaling and extractions at 80 percent up to 700 to 1,000 dollars with nine month recalls. Personal Health Insurance pays 60 to 80 percent up to 500 to 750 dollars after a three month wait.
Major Dental
- Canada Life
- Limited to the Elite tiers: 50 percent reimbursement up to 1,000 dollars on Guaranteed Elite and 750 dollars on Select Elite with dental. No orthodontic coverage exists anywhere in the Freedom to Choose lineup.
- Sun Life
- Restorative coverage, endodontics, periodontics, crowns, bridges and dentures, at 50 percent on with-dental tiers after a one year wait, and orthodontics at 60 percent with a 1,500 dollar lifetime maximum on Personal Health Insurance Enhanced after two years.
Vision
- Canada LifeListed in 8 of 8 plans
- 100 percent reimbursement up to 150 to 275 dollars every two years for glasses, contacts or laser surgery, plus 75 dollars per eye exam, on all eight plans with no waiting period.
- Sun LifeListed in 9 of 10 plans
- 100 percent up to 150 to 300 dollars every two years including prescription sunglasses, with a 50 dollar exam allowance inside the maximum. Personal Health Insurance applies a one year waiting period before vision benefits begin.
Travel
- Canada LifeListed in 0 of 8 plans
- None of the Freedom to Choose plan documents we publish list an emergency travel medical benefit, so travel insurance is a separate purchase for Canada Life clients.
- Sun LifeListed in 7 of 10 plans
- Mid and upper tiers include emergency travel medical at 100 percent with a one million dollar lifetime maximum, covering the first 60 days of each trip until age 80. Plan A and Personal Health Insurance Basic exclude travel.
Paramedical
- Canada LifeListed in 8 of 8 plans
- Pays 100 percent of treatment up to 300 to 500 dollars combined per year across eleven practitioner types, including psychologists, social workers and speech therapists, which few individual plans name.
- Sun LifeListed in 10 of 10 plans
- Covers chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopaths, acupuncturists, osteopaths, physiotherapists and podiatrists on every plan, including one x-ray examination per calendar year for chiropractic, osteopathic and podiatric care.
Underwriting: how you qualify
Sun Life and Canada Life share identical guaranteed issue mechanics: both give you exactly 60 days after employer group benefits end to enrol in a conversion plan, Health Coverage Choice or Freedom to Choose Guaranteed, without medical questions. The fork in the road is what happens if you miss that window or were never on a group plan. Canada Life still has a door open: Select Guaranteed Acceptance takes any applicant with no health questionnaire, trading a modest 500 dollar drug maximum for certainty. Sun Life has no equivalent; its remaining five plans are all medically underwritten Personal Health Insurance tiers, which can decline applicants or exclude conditions. Healthy applicants comparing underwritten tiers will find both carriers offer bronze through platinum options, with Sun Life fielding the larger count, ten plans to eight.
New to these terms? See our plain-language guides to underwriting, pre-existing conditions, waiting periods and how your premium is set.
See real prices for your situation
Premiums for both carriers depend on your age, province and who is on the policy, so the fastest way to compare costs is a personalized quote. You can also estimate your out-of-pocket dental costs with our dental services calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Both carriers advertise 250,000 dollar drug coverage. Is there a real difference?
The ceilings are nearly identical but the cost-sharing differs. Canada Life Select Elite pays 90 percent of your first 10,000 dollars and 100 percent of the next 240,000 dollars. Sun Life Personal Health Insurance Enhanced pays 80 percent of the first 5,000 dollars and 100 percent of the next 245,000 dollars, but covers generic drugs only, while Canada Life also reimburses brand name prescriptions.
I cannot pass medical underwriting. Which carrier can I actually buy?
If you are within 60 days of leaving a group plan, either one will take you on a guaranteed issue basis. Outside that window, only Canada Life: its Select Guaranteed Acceptance plan requires no medical questions at any time. Sun Life sells no guaranteed acceptance product, so applicants who fail or skip underwriting have no Sun Life option.
Which is better for someone who travels several times a year?
Sun Life, by default. Its mid and upper plans include emergency travel medical with a one million dollar lifetime maximum for the first 60 days of every trip, available until age 80. Canada Life Freedom to Choose plans include no travel benefit, so frequent travellers choosing Canada Life should price a standalone annual travel policy into the comparison.
How do dental costs differ in practice?
Canada Life Select plans charge a 25 dollar per person deductible, capped at 50 dollars per family, before its 70 to 80 percent reimbursement applies, and impose a three month no-claims wait. Sun Life skips deductibles but uses waiting periods instead: three months for preventive care and one year for restorative work on Personal Health Insurance. Sun Life is also the only one of the two offering orthodontics.
Do either of these plans cover eye exams fully?
Neither covers unlimited exams, but Canada Life is more generous: 75 dollars toward one eye exam every two years on top of its 150 to 275 dollar eyewear maximum. Sun Life folds a 50 dollar exam allowance inside its overall 150 to 300 dollar vision maximum, and Personal Health Insurance members wait a year before any vision benefit starts.