Canadian insurers recognized for AI innovations

Three Canadian life carriers have been ranked among the most mature in terms of AI adoption across North America and Europe for a second time by Evident Insights, a financial sector AI benchmarking firm.

The study ranks 30 of the largest insurers from the two continents. Ten are life carriers, eight of which are headquartered in Canada and the U.S.

Manulife topped the list of North American life insurers and ranked third place overall, up two places from last year.

Evident highlighted Manulife’s use of adaptive questions to approve eligible applications automatically. The feature, implemented in September 2025, has doubled the life insurer’s instant approval rate and cut up to 40% of medical questions, according to Manulife.

Earlier this month, the insurer said it planned to roll out more AI tools in Canada that were successfully piloted in the U.S. under its John Hancock brand.

The life insurance category remains the lowest-scoring group overall, compared to property and casualty (P&C), and those active in both P&C and life and health insurance.

Improvements in life were concentrated at the top — Manulife pulled further ahead as the lower end of the category remained largely unchanged.

Sun Life dropped three places to 21st overall, while Great-West Life stayed at 27th place, coming in last among its North American peers.

Life insurance policies typically run for 10–40 years, much longer that the 12-month timeline of typical P&C insurance policies or reinsurance, the report said. The extended life cycle means life carriers rely more on AI to find improvements in conversion and long-term customer relationships.

“Underwriting and pricing” was the most popular category for AI use among life insurers, with 12 use cases in the first quarter of 2026, Evident found.

“Underwriting and pricing decisions directly influence risk selection, premium adequacy, loss ratios and regulatory compliance. As a result, model errors or bias can materially impact an insurer’s balance sheet and capital position,” the report said.

Manulife took pole position for AI leadership, while Sun Life tied with Aviva in eighth place.

Manulife joined Generali and Intact Financial as the only insurers to disclose realized or projected return on investment in AI, according to the report.