Frequently Asked Questions

• For Term Life, Major Accident, Critical Illness and Child Life – your coverage will begin on the date the properly completed application and the first premium are received by Manulife, if on that date you are insurable in accordance with our underwriting rules.
• For Health & Dental, Disability Income and Business Overhead Expense – our coverage will begin on the 1st of the month following approval of your application by Manulife, as long as the premium is paid.

In all cases, you will receive a Certificate specifying your coverage and the main policy provisions. If you are not insurable, you will receive a full refund of the premiums you paid.

You are only eligible for non-smoker rates if, as of the date your application is received by Manulife, you have not smoked any cigarettes in the past 12 months. If you are already covered and you begin smoking, you must notify us so that we can adjust your premiums accordingly.

After 12 months of not smoking cigarettes, you may complete the Application for change to non-smoker rates and return to Manulife. If it is approved, your lower non-smoker rates will begin on the 1st of the month following our receipt of your non-smoker application.

If the payment method you chose is either credit card or Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD), and the account number shown on your Premium Notice is correct, you don't need to do anything - Manulife will process your payment automatically. If your payment method is by cheque, send a cheque for the full amount to Manulife by your Policy Anniversary Date.

Premiums increase with age for all plans except Major Accident Insurance and Child Life and Accident Insurance. Please see the “Rates” section of each plan for details. 

For example, Term Life premiums increase with age every five years, specifically at ages 31, 36, 41, 46, 51 and so on.

“Age,” for the calculation of premiums and benefits, means attained age at the beginning of the Policy Year (April 1).

You can change your payment method. Or if you prefer, simply fill out the form on the back of your Premium Notice and mail it to Manulife. To add or change your credit card number securely please contact the customer service number.

You can update your address, phone number or e-mail address. Or if you prefer, simply fill out the form on the back of your Premium Notice and mail it to Manulife. To add or change your credit card number securely please contact the customer service number.

You can change your beneficiary by completing and signing a Change of Beneficiary form and mailing it to Manulife. If your current beneficiary is irrevocable, you will need your beneficiary's consent to make this change. In Quebec, a spouse designated as beneficiary is irrevocable unless otherwise stated.

To apply for increased coverage, simply complete another application for the additional coverage amount, then send it to Manulife. You can apply online for Term Life or Major Accident, or download a printer-ready application.  You can contact your authorized representative for help completing your application for the Health Care Plan, Dental Care Plan, Disability Income Replacement Plan or Business Overhead Expense Plan. You can also increase your coverage by calling Manulife at 1-877-598-2273.

You can download a printer-ready brochure and application.

To cancel your coverage and get a refund of your premiums, you must return your Policy or Certificate of Insurance to Manulife along with your written and signed cancellation request within the following number of days:

• within 30 days of receiving your Certificate or Policy for any new Term Life, Major Accident, Critical Illness or Child Life insurance
• within 10 days of receiving your Certificate or Policy for any new Disability Income, Business Overhead Expense, Health Care or Dental Care insurance

Your coverage will end beginning on the payment due date following the date on which we receive your cancellation request.

If you later choose to re-apply, you must complete another application and meet the medical qualifications required of any new applicant. However, if you terminate your Health Care, Dental Care, Disability Income or Business Overhead Expense coverage after two years to join an employer group plan, you may be eligible to rejoin these Plans later and reinstate your original coverage, without providing proof of health. If you are unsure about cancelling your coverage, please contact us and we will try to help.

Manulife has made arrangements with a select group of licensed advisory representatives chosen for their expertise and product knowledge to provide professional advice at no additional cost. Find an advisor.

You can contact Manulife's customer service representatives through this online contact form or by calling toll-free
 1-877-598-2273 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET).

Please do not include any credit card account numbers in your email message to us.

If you had coverage in place from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, a refund was applied as a premium credit on your March 1, 2024 Premium Notice. In other words, the refund was used to offset (reduce) the premium due for the upcoming year. If your premium credit exceeded the premium due, you would have received a refund cheque for the difference.

If you have discontinued all coverage effective on or after April 1, 2023 but were eligible to receive a refund (you are an insured member and you paid full premiums during the eligibility period – in this case from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023), a cheque covering the full refund will be mailed to you.

The premium refund for insured members eligible to receive a refund is equal to 25% of premiums paid (plus sales tax where applicable) for member, spouse and/or child Term Life coverage and/or for member, spouse Major Accident Protection for the full policy year from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

To qualify for a refund, plan participants must have been insured and paid their premiums under specific Engineers Canada-sponsored Insurance Plans for the full "eligibility period". For example, the policy year of April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023, is the "eligibility period" for the 2024 refund distribution.

The Premium Credit will be applied towards your monthly premium until the credit is depleted. Your 2024 Premium Notice will indicate the month when regular PAD payments will resume. Note that when your PAD payments resume, the first payment may be a partial payment with full payments resuming thereafter; the onus is on you to know when your premiums are due. 

If you have changed your bank or your credit card has been reissued and/or has a new expiry date, please contact Manulife immediately to update your payment instructions (see contact information below).

Together with Engineers Canada, our objective is to maintain the Engineers Canada-sponsored Insurance Plans in a sound and stable financial position. When results for any plan's fiscal period produce surplus funds which are not needed to meet this key financial objective, a refund is declared.

There is no guarantee of a refund in any year. The availability and amount of any refund will be reviewed annually. Engineers Canada, with the help of Manulife and independent actuarial consultants, will continue to monitor the Plan experience and trends annually – to ensure the Engineers Canada-sponsored Insurance Plans remain competitive and on sound financial footing.

For further questions contact Manulife online or call toll-free at 1-877-598-2273 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday.

The premium reduction is effective from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. After March 31, 2024, premiums will return to their regular amounts.

No, the 75% premium reduction only applies to new or additional Term Life coverage – purchased between March 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024.

You will receive a Premium Notice in March 2024 reflecting the return to regular rates. If you pay by credit card or by pre-authorized bank deductions, the regular premium will begin to be automatically charged as April 1, 2024.

If you wish to reduce or cancel coverage at that time, simply contact us in writing with your instructions. You will find the contact information here

Coverage under Extended Health Care can be maintained past age 65. Please contact us  for the rates that apply to those over 65 years of age.

There is annual $500 limit for each practitioner.

• Eye exams – $50 every 24 months
• Prescription eyewear –  $250 every 24 months
• Medical practitioner –  $500 per practitioner, per calendar year
• Private duty nursing –  $10,000 for any one injury or sickness every 12 months
• Hearing aids –  $500 every 5 years
• Orthotics and orthopaedic shoes –  $200 (combined) per calendar year
• Glucometers –  $500 per calendar year
• Accidental dental –  $750 per tooth
• Prescribed vaccines (required for out-of-Canada travel) –  $250 per calendar year
• Repatriation –  $15,000 per injury or sickness
• Dental care –  $1,500 per calendar year

You can obtain your previous year's Health & Dental premium (tax) receipt by going online to our Secure Service portal at manulife.ca/secureserve.

• If you haven’t visited our Secure Service portal yet, please register to access your information
• Navigate through the easy-to-use online portal
• Find your receipt under the payments section

If you have any questions, you can contact us by going to the Manulife site, Manulife.ca/secureserve, log in and click on “Send Note” or you can email us at more_info@manulife.com.

If you purchase the Prime plan, you will be purchasing the Dental Care coverage separately from the Extended Health Care coverage – so there are two quotes. However, when you purchase one of the three options of the new Professional Retiree plan, you get a quote for both Health and Dental combined. Also, the Prime plan lifetime maximum for claims outside Canada is reduced to $12,500, while it remains the same under the new Professional Retiree plan.

Under the new Professional Retiree plans, the combined max claims per year are $600 for the Base plan, $650 for the Bridge plan, and $700 for the Comprehensive plan.

You can obtain your previous year's Health & Dental premium (tax) receipt by going online to our Secure Service portal at manulife.ca/secureserve.

• If you haven’t visited our Secure Service portal yet, please register to access your information
• Navigate through the easy-to-use online portal
• Find your receipt under the payments section

If you have any questions, you can contact us by going to the Manulife site, Manulife.ca/secureserve, log in and click on “Send Note” or you can email us at more_info@manulife.com.

This means that the prescription drug coverage provided under the Engineers Canada-sponsored plan is at least equal to or better than the coverage offered under the public prescription drug plan provided by RAMQ (the RAMQ plan). 

At age 65, you are automatically covered under the RAMQ plan, unless you "unregister". What this means is that, once you turn 65, you have the choice of continuing to be covered by your current Manulife plan for prescription drugs or moving to the RAMQ plan. We recognize that, even if you do move to the RAMQ plan, you may still want to keep the other benefits you currently have under Manulife. In this situation, we can provide supplemental coverage for certain prescription drug costs not covered by RAMQ, while leaving all other benefits the same. You must contact Manulife to set this up.

For these plans, the prescription drug coverage terminates at age 65. You will then be automatically covered under the RAMQ plan for prescription drug coverage. For the EHC Under Age 65 and the EHC + Dental Under Age 65 plans, you are automatically transferred to the EHC Over Age 65 plan when you turn 65. Your benefits remain the same, except that there will be: 

• no prescription drug coverage 
• no dental care coverage if you were under the EHC + Dental Under Age 65 plan 
• a reduction in travel coverage 
• a reduction in your lifetime maximums

They are the same plans, except that the EHC + Dental Under Age 65 also includes dental coverage.

Yes, your spouse and children are also eligible for benefits. To be eligible children must be under 25 years of age. Children 21 to 24 must be in full-time attendance at an accredited college or university. Covered children who are incapacitated and dependant on you for support will be covered up to any age.

Each plan was conceived to fulfill specific needs. We recommend that you speak with a Manulife representative in order to make the best choice possible, according to your own unique situation. To help you start thinking about what choices are best for you, we have included some quick tips that will help you guide your choice: 

1. Are you looking only for prescription drug coverage?  
   1. If so, then the Prime – Prescription Drug plan may be a good choice for you. 
2. Are you looking for prescription drug coverage and extended health care benefits, but you don't need dental coverage?  
   1. If so, then the Prime –  EHC under age 65 may be a good choice for you. 
3. Are you looking for a plan that covers all of the major benefits (drugs, dental, extended health care, travel), but that does not require a medical questionnaire at the time of application?  
   1. If so, then the Professional – Base plan may be a good choice for you. 
4. Do you like travelling, and intend to continue travelling for a long time?  
   1. If so, then the Professional plan may be a good choice for you, since the travel coverage continues up to age 80. 
5. Are you currently covered under a group plan but will soon be losing your coverage, or have you been recently covered under a group plan? Are you looking for a comprehensive plan, that covers all benefits (drugs, dental, extended health care, travel) and that does not require a medical questionnaire at the time of application?  
   1. If you have answered yes to both questions, then the Professional – Bridge plan is likely a good choice for you, since the plan does not require a medical questionnaire at the time of application in the 60 days of losing a group health plan. 
6. Are you in a good health and looking for a comprehensive plan that covers all benefits (drugs, dental, extended health care, travel), with a generous plan design?  
   1. If so, then the Professional – Comprehensive plan may be a good choice for you.

Please note: The comments above are provided for information purposes only. They are not intended to be and should not in any way be construed as constituting legal advice or product recommendations.

No. Membership in a participating association is only required at time of initial application for an insurance product.

Under the Term Life Plan, if you die your insured spouse will be given the option to continue his or her coverage under the Plan.

Based on the current rate structure, premiums do increase with age every five years, specifically at ages 31, 36, 41, 46, 51 and so on. 

If you cancel your Term Life insurance, you may within 31 days apply to convert your insurance to selected individual plans without an additional medical examination or extra health questions to answer at the time of application. You simply pay the rates for the individual plan that apply to your age at the time of conversion. Contact us for more information.

Earned income means wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, professional fees, net earnings from self-employment and other remuneration received for personal services actually performed during the period for which computation is being made.

If your existing insurance is less than what you're eligible for based on your earnings, you can top it up to get maximum coverage. You can buy coverage equal to the difference between (1) the benefit provided by your current plan and (2) the additional amounts available through this Disability Income Replacement Plan.

It depends. If your employer currently pays for your coverage under your employee plans, any benefits actually paid to you during a disability leave will be taxable as income (under current tax rules). By paying for your own coverage under this Disability Income Replacement Plan, you can select the additional coverage you want– and any benefits you receive would be tax-free income.

Most employee group disability coverage is not portable; it will end when you are no longer an employee. If you become uninsured in your later years, you may not qualify for individual disability coverage due to your age or deteriorating health. If you purchase coverage under this Disability Income Replacement Plan while you are still employed, you can take this coverage with you if you leave to become self-employed.

• Active hepatitis
• AIDS or AIDS-related disease
• Alcohol abuse in the past five years
• Alzheimer's disease
• Any heart condition or heart trouble (excluding controlled hypertension)
• Cancer – all cancer except basal cell skin cancer
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Diabetes
• Heart attack
• Huntington's chorea
• Kidney disease – other than kidney stones or a history of kidney infection
• Lou Gehrig's disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Major organ transplant recipient
• Multiple sclerosis
• Permanent paralysis (paraplegia, quadriplegia) – other than Bell's Palsy
• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Stroke – cerebrovascular accident
• Transient Ischemic Attack

• Cancer in situ;
• T1A and T1B prostate cancer;
• Any skin cancer, other than invasive malignant melanoma to a Breslow depth greater than 0.75mm;
• Pre-malignant lesions, benign tumours or polyps;
• Any tumour in the presence of any human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Life-threatening cancer: A tumour characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of malignant cells and the invasion of tissue as confirmed by histological examination of tissue samples.

Heart attack (myocardial infarction): The death of a portion of the heart muscle due to atherosclerotic heart disease. The diagnosis must be based on all of the following criteria occurring at the same time:

• New episode of typical chest pain or equivalent symptoms; and
• Resulting from the blockage of one or more coronary arteries; and
• New electrocardiographic changes indicative of myocardial infarction; and
• Biochemical evidence of myocardial necrosis including elevated cardiac enzymes and/or troponin.

Stroke: A cerebrovascular incident causing infarction of your brain tissue, due to intracranial hemorrhage, thrombosis or embolism, producing a new measurable permanent clinical neurological deficit persisting for at least thirty (30) days following the occurrence of the stroke.

Coronary artery bypass surgery: You have undergone heart surgery to correct narrowing or blockage of one or more coronary arteries with bypass grafts.

Kidney failure: End stage renal disease, due to whatever cause or causes, as a result of which you are undergoing peritoneal dialysis or haemodialysis on a regular basis or have received a transplanted human kidney.

Major organ transplant: You have undergone transplantation of a human heart, liver, lung or kidney due to irreversible failure of such organ, or you have received transplanted human bone marrow.

Blindness: Total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes, as confirmed by a qualified ophthalmologist. The corrected visual acuity must be worse than 20/200 in both eyes, or the field of vision must be less than 20 degrees in both eyes.

Deafness: Total, permanent and profound loss of hearing in both ears, with an auditory threshold of 90 decibels or greater within the speech threshold of 500 to 3,000 cycles per second, as confirmed by a doctor who is a certified otolaryngologist, and such loss of hearing cannot be corrected by any hearing aid, implant or device.

Multiple sclerosis: The unequivocal diagnosis of definite multiple sclerosis by a doctor who is a certified neurologist. The diagnosis must be based on well-defined neurological abnormalities on physical examination persisting for a continuous period of at least one hundred and eighty (180) days and confirmed by imaging techniques.

Paralysis: Complete and permanent loss of use of two or more limbs for a continuous period of ninety days following the precipitating event, during which time there has been no sign of improvement.

Coma: A state of unconsciousness, with no reaction to external stimuli or response to internal needs, continuing for at least four (4) days.

Burns: Third degree burns covering at least 20% of the surface area of the body. The diagnosis must be confirmed by a certified plastic surgeon.

Loss of speech: Total and irreversible loss of the ability to speak as the result of physical injury or disease which loss continues for a continuous period of at least one hundred and eighty (180) days.

Loss of limbs: The irreversible severance of two or more limbs at or above a point that is proximal to the wrist or ankle joint as the result of an accident or medically required amputation.

Motor neuron disease: You receive an unequivocal diagnosis, by a doctor who is a certified neurologist, that you have one of the following: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (A.L.S. or Lou Gehrig's disease), primary lateral sclerosis, progressive spinal muscular atrophy, progressive bulbar palsy, or pseudo bulbar palsy, and limited to these entities. The diagnosis must be accompanied by typical progressive neurological findings on physical examination for at least one hundred and eighty (180) days.

Aortic surgery: The undergoing of surgery for disease of the thoracic or abdominal aorta, requiring excision of the diseased segment of the aorta and replacement of it with a graft.

Alzheimer's disease: The definite diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, by a doctor who is a certified neurologist, with progressive degeneration of the brain, memory and the ability to reason and perceive. You must exhibit the loss of intellectual capacity involving impairment of memory and judgment, which results in such a significant reduction of mental and social functioning as to require continuous daily supervision.

Parkinson's disease: The diagnosis, by a doctor who is a certified neurologist, of primary idiopathic Parkinson's disease, characterized by two or more of the following clinical manifestations:

• Muscle rigidity
• Tremor
• Bradykinesis (abnormal slowness of movement, sluggishness of physical and mental responses)