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Prospectus: rr_ProspectusTable  
Supplement Text Block jhvit-20161209_SupplementTextBlock
 
John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust
Supplement dated December 9, 2016
to the Prospectus dated May 1, 2016



Equity Income Trust (the "fund")
 
Effective January 1, 2017, the information found under "Fees and expenses" and "Expense example" is amended and restated as follows to reflect the new advisory fee schedule:
 
Fees and expenses
 
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The fees and expenses do not reflect fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may use the fund as its underlying investment medium and would be higher if they did.
 
Annual fund operating expenses (%) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Series I
Series II
Series NAV
Management fee 1
0.73
0.73
0.73
Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees
0.05
0.25
0.00
Other expenses
0.04
0.04
0.04
Acquired fund fees and expenses 2
0.01
0.01
0.01
Total annual fund operating expenses 3
0.83
1.03
0.78

1 "Management fee" has been restated to reflect the contractual management fee schedule effective January 1, 2017.

2 "Acquired fund fees and expenses" are based on indirect net expenses associated with the fund's investments in underlying investment companies.

3 The "Total annual fund operating expenses" shown may not correlate to the fund's ratios of expenses to average net assets shown in the "Financial highlights" section of the fund's prospectus, which does not include "Acquired fund fees and expenses."
 
Expense example
 
The examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The examples assume that $10,000 is invested in the fund for the periods indicated and then all shares are redeemed at the end of those periods. The examples also assume that the investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. The expense example does not reflect fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may use the fund as its underlying investment medium and would be higher if they did. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
  

Expenses ($)
Series I
Series II
Series NAV
1 year
85
105
80
3 years
265
328
249
5 years
460
569
433
10 years
1,025
 1,259
966
 
(John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust) | (Equity Income Trust)  
Prospectus: rr_ProspectusTable  
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The fees and expenses do not reflect fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may use the fund as its underlying investment medium and would be higher if they did.

Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

Annual fund operating expenses (%) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees The "Total annual fund operating expenses" shown may not correlate to the fund's ratios of expenses to average net assets shown in the "Financial highlights" section of the fund's prospectus, which does not include "Acquired fund fees and expenses."
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

Expense example

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The examples assume that $10,000 is invested in the fund for the periods indicated and then all shares are redeemed at the end of those periods. The examples also assume that the investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. The expense example does not reflect fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may use the fund as its underlying investment medium and would be higher if they did. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
(John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust) | (Equity Income Trust) | Series I  
Prospectus: rr_ProspectusTable  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.73% [1]
Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.05%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.04%
Acquired fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.83% [3]
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 85
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 265
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 460
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,025
(John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust) | (Equity Income Trust) | Series II  
Prospectus: rr_ProspectusTable  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.73% [1]
Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.04%
Acquired fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.03% [3]
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 105
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 328
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 569
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,259
(John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust) | (Equity Income Trust) | Series NAV  
Prospectus: rr_ProspectusTable  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.73% [1]
Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.04%
Acquired fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.78% [3]
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 80
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 249
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 433
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 966
[1] "Management fee" has been restated to reflect the contractual management fee schedule effective January 1, 2017.
[2] "Acquired fund fees and expenses" are based on indirect net expenses associated with the fund's investments in underlying investment companies.
[3] The "Total annual fund operating expenses" shown may not correlate to the fund's ratios of expenses to average net assets shown in the "Financial highlights" section of the fund's prospectus, which does not include "Acquired fund fees and expenses."