Wawanesa Life has added Child Critical Illness (CI) insurance to its product suite, aiming to give families financial support when a serious childhood illness occurs.
Wawanesa Life's Child CI insurance offers coverage for 33 conditions, including cancer, type 1 diabetes mellitus, autism, cerebral palsy and congenital heart disease, as well as nine additional conditions eligible under a partial payment benefit. Upon diagnosis of a covered condition, families receive a tax-free lump-sum payment that can be used however they need.
Dean Chambers, VP, chief life operations officer for Wawanesa, said: "For parents, there's nothing more important than their child's health. When an illness occurs, it has far-reaching impacts. Families shouldn't have to carry financial stress on top of everything else. Our new Child CI coverage helps ensure their focus can remain where it matters most."
Between 925 and 1,000 Canadian children under 15 are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to national surveillance data compiled through the Cancer in Young People in Canada program and reported by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Roughly 86% survive at least five years, but childhood cancer remains the second leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 14 in Canada.
Meanwhile, a 2024 report from the Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee estimated the total societal cost of cancer in Canada at $37.7 billion annually, with as much as 20% of that burden falling directly on patients and caregivers, underscoring the kind of out-of-pocket gap a tax-free lump-sum benefit like Wawanesa's is designed to fill.
The product includes a built-in $25,000 Child Term Rider, with the option to increase coverage to $100,000.
Between the ages of 21 and 25, the rider can be converted, without medical evidence, to a term or permanent policy worth up to five times the original amount. The policy features guaranteed level premiums payable for 20 years and coverage that continues to age 75, and returns 100% of premiums paid if no claim is made.
The offering also provides claim-free access to virtual healthcare services and a game-based mental health app designed for children.
At 33 covered conditions, Wawanesa's standalone Child CI plan matches the coverage breadth of Humania Assurance's Children360 plan, which insurance comparison site PolicyAdvisor has identified as the most extensive dedicated child critical illness policy previously available in Canada.
That puts Wawanesa well ahead of several larger carriers' child coverage: according to a comparison compiled by insurance advisory firm Protect Your Wealth, Sun Life's child CI benefit covers five childhood-specific conditions to age 24, while a separate PolicyAdvisor comparison notes that Manulife and Empire Life do not offer a standalone child CI product at all, providing child coverage only as a rider on an adult policy.
The launch adds to a series of recent updates to Wawanesa Life's Term, Whole Life and Critical Illness products.
Founded in 1896 and headquartered in Winnipeg, Wawanesa is one of Canada's largest mutual insurers, wholly owned by its members, with more than $4.1 billion in annual revenue, $12.5 billion in assets and over 1.8 million members served through Wawanesa Life and its Western Financial Group distribution arm.
