Sun Retirement Health Assist

Taking care of the realities of aging.

Connect with an advisor

Last updated: August 7, 2025 | Reviewed by Liane Goulet

Planning for retirement means preparing to make your golden year projects a reality. It also means considering your future potential health-care needs.

Here’s where Sun Retirement Health Assist can help. It’s long-term care insurance designed to provide support if you need extended personal care later in life. It can also help you and your loved ones fund ongoing care, if you need it.

Your coverage begins at:

  • age 65
  • if you’re over 60 when you apply, 5 years after you buy your policy

If you become dependent after this time, you can submit a claim.

Depending on your plan, there’s a 1- or 2-year waiting period before benefits begin. During that time, care costs are your responsibility. You’ll need to remain dependent through the waiting period to start receiving benefits.

Whether you prefer to stay in your cherished home with senior living assistance, move to a retirement community, or receive care in a specialized facility, the decision is entirely yours. We're here to help support your independence and dignity, every step of the way.

Who should consider this coverage?

Sun Retirement Health Assist may be a good fit if:

  • You’re concerned your retirement income won’t be enough if your health declines and you don’t qualify for government programs.
  • You want the flexibility to choose the type and level of long-term care options that may help reduce extra financial pressure on your retirement plans or family inheritance.
  • You’re thinking about the possibility of living longer than expected and want to prepare in case long-term care becomes a major ongoing cost.

Key features

Here’s what you need to know about Sun Retirement Health Assist:

Age requirements

You must be between the age of 45 and 71 years old to consider this plan.

Benefit amounts

Minimum weekly benefit: $125.

Maximum weekly benefit: $2,300.

Waiting period

You can choose between a 365-day (1 year) or 730-day (2 year) waiting period. 

How to qualify for benefits

Benefits are paid if you live in Canada or the US.

You may travel outside these countries for a maximum of 8 weeks at a time and continue to receive benefits.

To qualify you must require:

You’re considered to have deteriorated mental ability if you need continuous supervision by another person for protection from threats to your physical health and safety as the result of deterioration in or a loss of:

  • Short- or long-term memory
  • Orientation as it relates to people, place and time
  • Reasoning
  • Judgment, as it relates to safety awareness

Deteriorated mental ability must result from an organic brain disorder such as Alzheimer’s disease, irreversible dementia or brain injury.

For activities of daily living, “substantial physical assistance” means an individual is unable to perform at least two or more of these activities at any time without the assistance of another individual.

For example, in bathing, someone who can wash their upper body but is unable to wash their lower body and needs significant assistance to transfer onto the shower chair would be considered substantial physical assistance.

  • Bathing means washing yourself with or without the aid of assistive devices  in a bathtub or shower, including getting in and out of the bathtub or shower, or by sponge bath. Bathing doesn’t include the ability to reach and wash the back or feet.
  • Dressing means putting on, taking off, fastening and unfastening, with or without the aid of assistive devices: clothing, and medically necessary braces or artificial limbs. You’re not dependent for dressing if reasonable alterations to or changes in the clothing you usually wear would let you dress yourself without substantial physical assistance.
  • Toileting means getting to and from and on and off the toilet, with or without the aid of assistive devices, and performing associated personal hygiene.
  • Transferring means moving into or out of a bed, chair or wheelchair, with or without the aid of assistive devices.
  • Continence means the ability to control both bladder and bowel functions or maintain a reasonable level of personal hygiene (including caring for catheter or colostomy bag) when not able to control bowel or bladder functions.
  • Feeding means the ability to get food into your body, with or without the aid of assistive devices, through your mouth, or by feeding tube. Feeding does not include cooking or preparing a meal.

Stand-by assistance means another person must always be within arm’s reach so you can safely and completely perform the activities of bathing and transferring.

If you require stand-by assistance for only one of bathing or transferring, we consider you dependent when you also require substantial physical assistance to perform one of the other activities of daily living.

Additional benefits

The following benefits are included at no extra costs:

Automatic return of premium

If you die before the coverage effective date, we will return all premiums you paid for your Sun Retirement Health Assist to your estate or named beneficiary. 

Inflation protection

The weekly benefit amount will increase by 3% each policy anniversary while benefits are payable.

Waiver of premium

When we approve a claim for benefits, we waive premiums for the policy.

Paying your premiums

You have two payment options:

  • Annually by cheque – one payment per year.
  • Monthly by pre-authorized debit – smaller, automated monthly payments.

Note: Monthly payments are slightly higher to cover processing costs.

You’ll continue paying premiums:

  • For the lifetime of the policy
  • Until the policy anniversary following your 100th birthday, or
  • While your claim for benefits is approved – at that point, premiums are waived

Premiums won’t change for the first 5 years from the policy issue date. After that, we may increase or decrease the premium on a policy anniversary. If we do make a change, we’ll give advance notice. The new premium will be guaranteed for at least another 5 policy years.

LifestageCareTM

With a long-term care insurance policy from Sun Life, like Sun Retirement Health Assist, you can make use of the valuable resources provided through LifestageCareTM. 

This national, bilingual service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It provides you and your loved ones with access to information about local healthcare and personal care providers that can meet your individual and family care needs at every stage of life.

More on LifestageCareTM

TM LifestageCare is a trademark of Assistance Services Group.

More resources

Do you have enough to retire?

Find out how much you’ll need to save for retirement and if you're on track to meet your retirement savings goal.

Use our retirement savings calculator

Retiring unexpectedly?

Retirement is a significant life transition many Canadians like you spend years planning for. Yet sometimes retirement comes earlier than expected.

Find out how working with an advisor can help

How to be happy in retirement

Hoping for a happy retirement?

Follow our tips for a happy retirement

This information is meant for educational and illustrative purposes only. Some conditions, exclusions and restrictions apply.

Want to know more? Speak with an advisor to explore your options.

Enter your postal code to find an advisor near you.