New research reveals insurance knowledge gaps and delayed milestones among Canada's post-secondary graduates
Canada's recent graduates are entering the workforce with ambition and cautious optimism, but a new national study suggests many are doing so without the financial foundation or protection to back it up.
The report, Today's Graduates: Securian Canada Insights, released Monday by Toronto-based insurance provider Securian Canada in partnership with Angus Reid Group, surveyed 1,017 recent graduates aged 18 to 34 who completed post-secondary education within the last five years.
Nearly four-in-five recent graduates (78 per cent) say they are optimistic about their financial future, according to the study, but that confidence sits uneasily alongside some telling data points: 45 per cent say they could cover less than three months of basic living expenses if their income stopped today, and 40 per cent describe themselves as struggling or just managing financially.
"Canada's recent graduates are entering the next stage of their lives with ambition and a clear desire to build a secure future," said Nigel Branker, Chief Executive Officer of Securian Canada, in a statement. "At the same time, they are navigating financial pressures that are shaping how they define career progress and success."
Employment without a safety net
The study notes that, although 81 per cent of recent graduates are employed (including 64 per cent in full-time roles) more than three-quarters (78 per cent) carry some form of debt, with credit card balances the most common burden (42 per cent), followed by student loans (33 per cent).
Even graduates who finished school three to five years ago are not past the crunch with 47 per cent in that cohort still reporting difficulty covering both housing and student loan costs simultaneously.
Affordability pressures are also reshaping life decisions with more than half of respondents (52 per cent) stating that they are delaying homeownership because of their financial situation. Twenty-nine per cent are delaying marriage or a long-term relationship, and 28 per cent are putting off starting a family.
For newcomer graduates, a quarter are postponing starting a business and nearly as many (24 per cent) are delaying sponsoring family members to Canada. For advisors working with younger clients, these delays signal not just personal stress but deferred wealth-building events that traditionally trigger protection and investment conversations.
As Wealth Professional has reported, insurance coverage gaps among Canadians remain a persistent challenge, with one in three Canadians considering cutting coverage even as understanding of what they hold remains limited.
A protection gap advisors should notice
The insurance findings in Securian Canada's report are where both the advisory opportunity and the challenge, sit most clearly.
One in five recent graduates (20 per cent) report holding none of the following: life insurance, health and dental insurance, critical illness insurance, creditor insurance, or balance protection insurance.
On ownership of individual products, recent graduates trail older Canadians significantly: 40 per cent hold life insurance, compared to 58 per cent of Canadians aged 35 and older. The gap on critical illness coverage is smaller but still present (16 per cent versus 19 per cent) suggesting a market that has not yet found this cohort effectively.
Part of the problem is definitional. Only one quarter (25 per cent) of recent graduates associate financial protection with insurance at all. Thirty-one per cent connect it primarily to savings or government programmes such as Employment Insurance or the Ontario Disability Support Program. Nearly one-in-five (18 per cent) say they are unsure what the term means or what to associate it with.
The research also flagged a "wait and see" pattern driving non-ownership: 36 per cent of graduates without life insurance say they are waiting for a traditional life milestone such as buying a home, getting married, or having a child, before considering a purchase. Given that those same milestones are being delayed, the window for natural triggers is narrowing.
"It's reassuring to see that recent graduates are optimistic about their future, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're on a path to long-term financial security," Branker added. "The pressures recent graduates face with increased costs of living and the need to delay major life milestones reinforce the need for simpler and more accessible insurance solutions."
Digital fluency and the advice opening
The study also maps out how this cohort prefers to engage with financial products.
Nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of recent graduates identify as the sole financial decision-maker in their household, compared to 47 per cent of Canadians aged 35 and older. But their trust landscape is more distributed: 55 per cent trust a licensed financial advisor to help them reach long-term financial goals, although 51 per cent say they trust friends and family nearly as much.
That gap between advisor trust among graduates (55 per cent) and among older Canadians (73 per cent) underscores how early engagement can shape longer-term advisory relationships.
On channel preference, 59 per cent say they prefer digital platforms to learn about insurance options and 57 per cent prefer to complete a purchase online, well above comparable figures for Canadians aged 35 and older (44 per cent and 35 per cent respectively).
However, 37 per cent still want the option of a call-back from a licensed advisor if they encounter difficulty during an online process, only slightly below older Canadians (41 per cent).
That nuance matters. As recent coverage on younger Canadians and insurance confidence has shown, headline ownership numbers can mask the fact that many young Canadians are covered through group benefits rather than individually held policies. It’s a distinction that carries real risk when employment changes.
More than one third of recent graduates (38 per cent) say they are open to using artificial intelligence for insurance-related research, and 23 per cent say they trust AI to make insurance recommendations. That appetite for guidance, wherever it comes from, is an opening. Among newcomer graduates specifically, 72 per cent are at risk of inadequate health and dental coverage, a figure that points to a population where accessible, well-explained advice could have meaningful impact.
Securian Canada commissioned the study in partnership with Angus Reid Group. The survey included 1,017 recent graduates and was weighted to Statistics Canada parameters for age, gender, and region. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The full report, Today's Graduates: Securian Canada Insights, is the third in Securian Canada's ongoing research series focused on traditionally underserved markets in Canada. More information is available at securiancanada.ca.
