Grow With Them Plan Benefits
Serious Growth Potential
Your child’s policy comes with a cash value3 that can grow significantly over time. They can use it later to help pay for a first car, wedding, a down payment on their home.
Lifetime Protection – Not Payments
With a 20-pay whole life policy, payments stop after 20 years, but your child will be covered for life. This becomes all the more important once they have a family of their own.
$100 Baby Bonus
When you insure a baby (0-12 months), they become eligible for Serenia Life’s Bundles of Joy Benefit4 – a $100 baby bonus for our littlest members.
$2,500 Post-Secondary Scholarship
Once your child reaches an age where they plan to pursue post-secondary education, they can apply for a $2,500 scholarship through Serenia Life.
Bereaved Child Benefit
In the tragic scenario that your child were to lose both parents, Serenia Life would provide them with $500 in monthly support until their 19th year.
Susan and Lemar’s story
Susan is looking for a permanent insurance solution for her 6-month-old son, Lamar.
Overview
- Susan has a maximum budget of $100/month
- She is looking for a policy that will grow as her son does
- She wants a policy with no payments required when her son is an adult
- She wants to ensure that her son’s insurance continues even if she passes away
Solution: 20-Pay Whole Life Policy for $50,000
Total Monthly Premiums: $61.38
Lemar’s Policy Growth Potential Over His Lifetime
For illustration purposes only, as of November 2025. Age 0 based on male regular rates, paid up additions dividend option, and on $50,000 initial insurance coverage and current dividend scale. Future performance will be different than illustrated due to the variability of the dividend. All numbers in Canadian dollars. Current monthly premium, age 0 is $61.38 payable for 20 years. The policy is “paid up” at age 20.
How to Buy Child Life Insurance
Lucky for parents, buying child life insurance is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Follow the steps below and your child will be set up for the future, thanks to Serenia Life’s Grow With Them Plan.
1. Get a free quote
Book a 15-minute call with a licensed advisor by filling out this form. A Serenia Life advisor will reach out to get the ball rolling.
2. Apply for the Grow With Them Plan
We’ll walk you through the application process with some simple questions about your child’s age, health, and your goals for their future.
3. Make your first payment
Once your first payment is made, we’ll set up automatic payments directly from your bank so that you don’t have to worry about a thing.
1. Get a free quote
Book a 15-minute call with a licensed advisor by filling out this form. A Serenia Life advisor will reach out to get the ball rolling.
2. Apply for the Grow With Them Plan
We’ll walk you through the application process with some simple questions about your child’s age, health, and your goals for their future.
3. Make your first payment
Once your first payment is made, we’ll set up automatic payments directly from your bank so that you don’t have to worry about a thing.
Serenia Life's Exclusive Member Benefits⁸
Post-Secondary Scholarship
Take advantage of a one-time $2,500 scholarship towards any year of a full-time diploma, undergrad degree, or graduate program.
Fundraiser Support
Apply to receive up to $300 in seed money to fund your fundraiser, plus a post-event donation of $100-$300 to the cause you’re supporting.
Bereaved Child
To help provide financial stability to children whose parent(s) have died too soon via $500 in monthly support.
Babysitter's Benefit
Give your 11-15 year-old the opportunity to acquire caregiving skills through an accredited Canadian Babysitting course.
Bundles of Joy
You give your baby the gift of life insurance, and we’ll send you a $100 baby bonus. Just be sure to purchase the policy before baby turns 1!
Safe Communities
Keep kids in your community safe with a safety kit and safety sign that reminds drivers to slow down when neighbourhood children are at play.
Online Will & Power of Attorney
Create your digital will and power of attorneys (POAs) simply, quickly, and at no cost to you – in 20 minutes or less.
Frequently Asked Questions: Serenia Life’s Grow With Them Plan (Child Life Insurance)
Serenia Life’s Grow With Them Plan is whole life insurance for kids. Not only does it provide your child or grandchild with lifelong coverage, it also comes with an investment component, called a cash value, that grows with the child over their lifetime.
The Grow With Them Plan can be purchased on behalf of a child as young as 14 days old. For teens and pre-teens view our All Grown Up Plan.
While the exact cost depends on if you choose 20-pay whole life or regular whole life, your desired coverage amount, as well as your child or grandchild’s age, the Grow With Them Plan will in most cases cost you less than your daily coffee run does at the end of each month. The reality is, it will never be more affordable to buy than now.
The minimum monthly contribution for a whole life policy for a newborn is just under $20, while 20-pay whole life policies for a baby start at just over $30 a month9.
Both options come with guaranteed payments, coverage, and cash value – the only difference is how long you’re committed to making payments. With 20-pay whole life, there’s an end in sight. You only pay for 20 years, but the child is covered for their entire life. With regular whole life, the monthly or annual cost will be a little cheaper, but payments last until the child reaches age 100. In this scenario, parents or grandparents typically transfer ownership – and payments – to the child once they’ve reached adulthood.
There are no taxes or fees associated with transferring ownership to your child or grandchild – it is 100% free.
When you buy child life insurance, you’re setting them up financially for the future. Just like you would invest in an RESP to help fund a child’s post-secondary education, the Grow With Them Plan comes with a cash value that has the potential to grow quite significantly over time. The best part? When they’re all grown up, your child or grandchild can access this money when they need it – to fund a wedding, to help with a down payment on a home, or even to help them out when they retire one day.
No, the Grow With Them Plan is not an RESP. An RESP is a Registered Education Savings Plan offered by the Canadian government which can be used to help fund your child’s post-secondary education. In contrast, the Grow With Them Plan can be used to pay for any financial need throughout your child’s lifetime. Both are tax-deferred investments that nicely complement one another.
There are several different ways to access the money. This article, How to Withdraw Money from Your Life Insurance Policy, breaks it all down for you. We recommend speaking with your Serenia Life advisor if you have further questions about your options.
In Canada, parents, grandparents, or legal guardians can buy the Grow With Them Plan for a child. While many parents and guardians like how it complements their child’s RESP, certain grandparents like to purchase it as a gift for a child who “has it all.”
- Purchase a participating whole life policy for your child or grandchild. You can choose 20-pay or whole life – it’s up to you!
- Name a contingent owner (i.e., someone who assumes ownership of the policy if you, the policyowner, dies). In this case, the other parent or a guardian of the child probably makes the most sense.
- Make the monthly or annual payments until you are ready to pass along ownership to your child or grandchild. The child would then take over the payments – unless you purchased a 20-pay whole life policy and payments have already stopped.
- At a date of your choosing (and when they are legal age), transfer the policy to the child. At this point, ownership is now in their name.
- The beneficiaries on the policy would be updated to the people and/or charitable organization of your child or grandchild’s choosing.
- Your child grandchild can now access the cash value through a policy loan or withdrawal10.
The Grow With Them Plan is as close to risk free as you can get. This plan is issued by Serenia Life Financial, a federally regulated life insurance company that demonstrates financial strength that is over and above minimum regulatory capital requirements, internal target capital levels, as well as the supervisory target levels as indicated in the Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (LICAT).
The LICAT establishes the standards used by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to assess whether a life insurer maintains adequate capital or an adequate margin to support risks specific to the life insurance business.
OSFI has established supervisory target levels of 100% for total ratio and 70% for core ratio. Serenia Life had a total ratio of 216% in 2023, up 63% from 2022’s 153%. Our core ratio was 119%, up 32% from our 2022 result of 87%. Learn more
When selecting a life insurance provider, it’s always a good idea to do some comparison shopping. Remember: while it needs to fit into your budget, it’s never just about the cost of a policy – consider the organization’s claims approval rating, financial strength, and online reviews.
At Serenia Life, we’re proud to have a claims approval rating that consistently exceeds 99.9%, and we regularly review our suite of products to ensure they’re competitively priced. Not to mention, just one insurance or investment product comes with more than $4,000 in benefits that help support our members, their community, and the causes they care about. Whether you visit our website, set up a meeting with one of our advisors, or call Member Services for help, you’ll be met with human kindness every step of the way.
As a member-based organization, Serenia Life uses a portion of our profits to give back to the communities we serve – through direct donations, volunteer work, and our growing collection of member benefits. Valued at more than $4,000, benefits range from a free digital will, to a $2,500 post-secondary scholarship, to funding for volunteer work, and so much more! Browse benefits
Yes, we are proudly Canadian – with roots that go back nearly 100 years.
Disclaimers
1 As long as your child has not been diagnosed with a health condition.
2 All life insurance policies purchased will receive 25% off their first-year premium, up to $500. Clients paying monthly will have premiums waived for the first 3 months or up to $500, whichever comes first. Clients paying quarterly will have their first premium payment waived or reduced by $500, whichever comes first. Clients paying annually will have their first payment reduced by 25% or $500, whichever comes first. Once a written case is issued and qualifies for a first-year premium reduction, it will not be eligible to qualify again. ADO premium is not covered by the campaign. Clients will be billed for this portion right from date of issue. If a Temporary Insurance Agreement is chosen, it will not be impacted by this campaign and will remain intact.
3 Cash values are accessible via a withdrawal, policy loan or surrender. These may be subject to taxation and a tax slip may be issued. Accessing the cash value of the policy will reduce the available cash surrender value and death benefit.
4 To be eligible, your baby must be insured with Serenia Life Financial for at least 6 months
5 Dividends are not guaranteed and are paid based on the overall experience of Serenia Life Financial, considering all the risk factors. Dividends may be subject to taxation. Dividends will vary based on the actual investment returns in the participating account as well as mortality, expenses, taxes, lapses, withdrawals, and other experience of the participating block of policies. They have the potential to increase the value of your policy above the guaranteed amount, depending on the dividend option selected. Additional Deposit Option allows clients to pay an additional premium to purchase paid-up life insurance on the policy. This optional payment is in addition to the required insurance premium. With Additional Deposit Option, clients can enjoy the potential of accelerated tax-preferred growth within their policy. We will not accept an additional premium if it will cause the policy to lose its tax-exempt status
6 This optional benefit is available if you’re purchasing life insurance for your child. This benefit ensures your child’s life insurance coverage remains in the event event of your death, or if you become totally disabled, for a period of at least 6 consecutive months.
7 KPMG Intelligence “Member Satisfaction Research 2022.” Conducted September 2022 on behalf of Serenia Life Financial.
8 Serenia Life Financial’s member benefits and program are not contractual. They are subject to change and maximum funding limits.
9 Illustration for $25,000 of coverage for a female, age 0, as of November 2025
10 Accessing the policy’s cash value will reduce the available cash surrender value and death benefit.
