Employers can remove friction from benefits and pension plan design by encouraging ease of use, communications and reducing decision fatigue, according to a panel discussion at Benefits Canada’s inaugural Women’s Health & Wealth Summit.
According to the 2025 Employee Savings Survey, women were less likely than men to describe their financial health as excellent or very good, report confidence in their workplace savings plan and feel on track to meet their targets for retirement savings.
“As the employer, you really need to understand the resources that are available,” said Francesca Lippa (pictured left), global benefits director at S&C Electrical Canada Ltd. “You’re the sommelier presenting [your employees] the available options.”
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She suggested employers approach complex issues facing women such as caregiving responsibilities, career interruptions or medical wellness not as exceptions but as expectations to plan the best support. “I’m a big fan of a mandatory plan,” said Lippa, noting the organization has a mandatory defined contribution plan with 85 per cent of members invested in target-date solutions.
“Set it and forget it is really valuable,” noted Lisa Rosen (pictured centre), director of total rewards at PwC Canada. “Women carry a lot of the household decisions, so it needs to be really easy.”
As examples, she highlighted the value of investing in target-date funds, auto-enrolment and mandatory contributions to reduce decision fatigue. She also pointed to the importance of communications, noting PwC Canada has been experimenting with communicating benefits through targeted information sessions and recently added an artificial intelligence agent to answer employee questions about the benefits plan.
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“Flexibility has been pretty important for us,” said Frances Policarpio (pictured right), head of total rewards at Wealthsimple. As a financial technology company, the organization has a very young demographic that affects its savings plan usage.
It has been beneficial for employees to have the flexibility of where they direct their contributions, she said, since it encourages members to reach their savings goals. The result is 98 per cent participation in the group savings program.
Read more coverage of the 2026 Women’s Health & Wealth Summit.