What benefit period should I choose?

To age 65 if you can afford it, because the risk insurance exists to cover is the long claim, not the short one. If the premium is a problem, lengthen the elimination period rather than shortening the benefit period. A longer wait costs you months of income; a shorter benefit period can cost you decades of it.

What is the difference between the benefit period and the elimination period?

The elimination period is how long you wait before payments start. The benefit period is how long they continue once they do. A typical individual policy might pair a 90-day elimination period with a benefit period to age 65.

Does the benefit period apply to critical illness insurance?

No. Critical illness insurance pays a single tax-free lump sum on a covered diagnosis, so there is no ongoing payment and no period over which it runs. What critical illness policies have instead is a survival period, usually 30 days after diagnosis, before the lump sum is paid at all.

Why does my group plan say to age 65 but people still lose coverage?

Usually because of the definition of disability rather than the benefit period. Many group plans pay on an own-occupation basis for the first two years, then require you to be unable to perform any occupation you are reasonably suited to. The benefit period may run to 65, but the test to keep qualifying tightens at month 24.

Benefit Period

Période de prestations in French

Quick definition

The benefit period is how long an insurance policy keeps paying once a claim starts. On disability insurance the common choices are 2 years, 5 years, or to age 65, and the difference between them is the difference between an inconvenience and a solved problem.

What it decides

Two policies can have the same monthly benefit and the same elimination period and behave completely differently, because one stops paying after 24 months and the other keeps paying for decades.

That is not a small difference. A $4,500 monthly benefit over a 2-year benefit period is worth $108,000. The same benefit running from age 40 to 65 is worth $1,350,000. The premium difference is nowhere near twelve times.

The benefit period is where disability insurance either works or does not, because the claims it exists to protect against are precisely the long ones.

The usual choices

Canadian disability insurance policies typically offer a short list.

Benefit period	What it handles
2 years	A serious illness or injury you recover from. Cheapest, and it stops precisely when a claim becomes catastrophic.
5 years	A middle option. Covers most recoveries and some extended ones.
To age 65	A permanent disability. The only version that actually replaces a career's worth of income.

Why the short ones are a trap

A 2-year benefit period is affordable, and it protects against the risk you could most likely handle another way. A 24-month absence is difficult; savings, a spouse's income and family support can often absorb it.

The risk that ruins a household is the one that lasts. A disability at 40 that never resolves costs 25 years of income, and a policy that stops at month 24 pays about 8% of it.

The general principle in insurance is to buy coverage for what you cannot absorb, not for what is likely. Applied here, that points strongly toward a benefit period to age 65, with the premium managed by lengthening the elimination period instead.

Two things that change what it is worth

The definition of disability interacts with the benefit period and can quietly shorten it. Many group plans use an own-occupation definition for the first two years and switch to any-occupation afterwards. A benefit period to age 65 with that switch is not the same product as one that keeps the own-occupation test throughout, and the switch point is where many long claims end.

Indexation matters more the longer the period runs. A level $4,500 benefit starting at age 40 still pays $4,500 at 64, by which point inflation has cut what it buys by roughly a third at 2% a year. A cost-of-living adjustment rider costs more and is worth pricing on any long benefit period.

On critical illness insurance the concept does not apply at all: the payout is a single lump sum, so there is no period over which it continues.

In Canada

Group long-term disability plans in Canada commonly run to age 65, which is genuinely valuable, but they usually pair it with the two-year switch to an any-occupation definition. Reading the definition is more informative than reading the benefit period on its own.

Canada Pension Plan disability benefits can run to age 65 for those who qualify, at which point they convert to a retirement pension. The amount is modest and the eligibility test is strict, so it is a supplement rather than a substitute.

Individual policies sold in Canada frequently offer both a to-65 benefit period and a longer elimination period as a package, which is usually the better structure than a shorter benefit period with a 30-day wait at a similar premium.

Worked example

Thomas is 40 and needs $4,500 a month of coverage. A 2-year benefit period is the cheapest option available to him. A to-age-65 benefit period costs meaningfully more per year. If he is disabled at 45 and never returns to work, the 2-year policy pays $108,000 and stops, while the to-65 policy pays $1,080,000 over 20 years. He instead keeps the to-65 benefit period and moves his elimination period from 90 to 180 days, which recovers much of the premium difference because he has six months of savings to bridge the gap.

See it in actionDisability Insurance Calculator See it in actionCritical Illness Insurance Calculator

Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated September 2026

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