The wife of a retired and healthy Canadian soldier said she's appalled at receiving a letter of condolence from an insurance company about his death.

Lisa Scott, 45, told the Ottawa Citizen she opened a letter from the insurance company soon after her husband set out on a city bus for a haircut this week and couldn't believe her eyes.

Her husband, Sgt. John Scott, 47, retired from the military in April after 27 years that most recently included two tours in Afghanistan.

Scott said she called her husband on his cell phone and his first response was a laugh and the question "Where are we going to spend the money?"

The insurance company has a Department of Defense contract for the military. Scott said calls to the company this week didn't yield any clues as to why she got the letter.

Meanwhile, her husband told the newspaper his alleged death wasn't much of a concern.

"I feel good," he said. "There are no ill-effects from my death, anyways."