Insurance
Physician disability insurance in Canada: how much and what kind
What own-occupation means, how much coverage an Ontario physician needs, why guaranteed premiums matter, and where association coverage stops.
6 min read
Services
Insurance
Disability, critical illness and life coverage read against what you already hold through OMA Insurance or CDSPI, then sized to what your household actually spends.
What we read
- Your current certificates in full, including the definition of disability and whether premiums are guaranteed.
- What OPIP, OMA Insurance or CDSPI already provides, and where its published limits sit.
- Your household's after-tax spending, mortgage balance and dependants.
- What the practice keeps paying each month if you stop working tomorrow.
What we assess
- The monthly gap between the benefit that would be payable and what your household spends.
- Whether a benefit is taxable in your hands, which changes the amount you need by roughly half a bracket.
- Whether the coverage survives leaving the association, the hospital or the practice.
- Whether an own-occupation definition earns its premium for your specialty.
The trade-off
| Association or group plan | Individually owned contract | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition of disability | Varies by plan. Some association contracts include own-occupation; many group plans move to any-occupation after two years. | Own-occupation is available and stated in the contract, priced as a rider on most policies. favourable |
| Premiums | Usually step-rated and reviewable, so the plan can reprice the whole class. | Guaranteed non-cancellable contracts exist, where the insurer cannot change the premium or the terms. favourable |
| Portability if you leave the association | Coverage generally ends with membership or employment. | The contract is yours. Membership, employer and practice can all change without touching it. favourable |
| Benefit cap | OMA Insurance and CDSPI both publish disability maximums around $25,000 a month. | Higher amounts are possible across insurers, subject to financial underwriting. |
| Underwriting | Often simplified, and there are enrolment windows with no medical evidence for new members. favourable | Full medical and financial underwriting, which is harder once a health history exists. |
| Cost | Lower at the start, with subsidised rates for residents and new members. favourable | Higher at the start, and fixed for the life of the contract on a guaranteed policy. |
Related reading
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OMA Insurance or private coverage: how to decide
What OPIP and OMA Insurance already give an Ontario physician, where the limits sit, and which gaps are worth filling with a private contract.
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Dentist disability insurance: CDSPI or a private contract?
CDSPI DisabilityGuard is a guaranteed non-cancellable contract, not a thin group plan. What to compare against a private policy, and where overhead coverage fits.
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