Health, dental, vision, life and disability coverage designed to attract and keep good people — without the renewal surprises. We handle the carriers, the claims questions, and the annual review.
A group benefits plan is employer-sponsored insurance that gives your employees coverage they could rarely buy as well on their own. Most Canadian plans are built from some combination of the following:
The right mix depends on your workforce. A team averaging 28 years old with young families uses a plan very differently than one averaging 52. Plan design should reflect that, and often does not.
Benefits costs in Canada have been rising faster than general inflation for years, driven largely by prescription drug costs — particularly high-cost specialty drugs — and by increased utilization of paramedical and mental health services.
But an above-market increase is usually not just industry trend. It is often a sign that nobody has looked closely at the plan. The three things a good advisor does before every renewal:
A useful test: ask your current advisor for your claims utilization report. If they cannot produce one within a day or two, that tells you how closely your plan is being managed.
A Health Spending Account gives each employee a fixed annual dollar amount to spend on any CRA-eligible health expense — glasses, dental work, physiotherapy, therapy, and more. The employer sets the limit, so the cost is known in advance and does not move at renewal.
HSAs work well as a complement to a traditional plan rather than a replacement. They handle the long tail of expenses a plan cannot economically cover, and employees tend to perceive the flexibility as more valuable than a marginally richer dental schedule.
We are independent, which means we are not tied to any one carrier and have no incentive to steer you toward a particular insurer. We work with Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, Desjardins, Empire Life, RBC Insurance, iA Financial Group, and Equitable Life.
Practically, that means: we run the claims analysis, we test the market, we bring you recommendations with the trade-offs laid out plainly, and then we handle the carrier relationship, the enrollment changes, and the employee questions so your team does not have to.
Cost depends on group size, employee demographics, the coverage selected, and claims history. Small to mid-size Canadian employers commonly see a range of roughly $150 to $500 per employee per month for a full plan including health, dental, life and disability. Richer paramedical limits, lower deductibles, and an older workforce push toward the upper end. The only way to know your number is a quote based on your actual census, which we can provide at no cost.
Most Canadian carriers will write a group plan starting at two or three employees, though the smallest groups are often placed in pooled arrangements where rates are set by the pool rather than by your own claims. Once a group reaches roughly 25 to 50 employees, your own claims experience begins to influence your rates directly, which gives you more control over cost.
The claims experience should be reviewed every year ahead of renewal. A fuller market review — testing rates against other carriers and reconsidering the plan design — is worth doing every two to three years, or sooner if you have had a significant change in headcount, a large claim, or a renewal increase you cannot explain.
Yes, and it is more routine than most employers expect. A well-managed carrier transition takes about 60 days and is largely invisible to employees beyond new benefit cards and a short communication. The main things to manage carefully are any employees currently on disability claim and any pre-authorized high-cost drug coverage, both of which need specific attention during the transition.
Employer-paid premiums for group health and dental are generally a deductible business expense, and in most provinces those benefits are not a taxable benefit to the employee. Employer-paid group life insurance premiums are typically a taxable benefit to the employee. Disability is where structure matters most: if the employer pays the premium the benefit is taxable to the employee, and if the employee pays it the benefit is received tax-free. We are not tax advisors, so confirm the specifics with your accountant.
Most employers who have not reviewed their plan in two years are overpaying. A review costs you nothing but half an hour.
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