In 2025, many organizations took steps to address an uncertain economy while responding to changing pressures.

Looking ahead to 2026, there are some trends and areas of priority that might feel awfully familiar to those of previous years. However, they’re showing up in different ways than in the more recent past.

Cost sustainability

Many organizations had a year of shoring up expenses and likely went through a challenging budgeting process for 2026. Budgetary pressures on compensation programs while employees are looking for higher wages have consequently placed a greater emphasis on showing the breadth of an organization’s benefits and retirement offerings.

Read: My Take: Helping employees amid rising cost of living a win-win for employers

Despite the tightening labour market, Benefits Canada’s 2025 Future of Work Survey found nearly two-thirds of employers remain concerned with attraction and retention of talent, putting benefits and retirement programs in the spotlight through a lens of total compensation. It will be important for employers to communicate the value of their benefits and retirement plans while balancing plan competitiveness with cost controls as medical inflation coupled with increased utilization puts upward pressure on benefits plan costs.

Chronic conditions

More than half of working Canadians report living with at least one chronic health condition, and while people are choosing to stay in the workforce longer than they might have a few years ago, chronic conditions aren’t only an issue for older people.

While the risk of chronic disease increases with age, there’s increased incidence at younger ages, resulting in younger people living with chronic health conditions.

A thorough analysis into an organization’s data will help employers understand which specific conditions to target to optimize reach and determine which supports will be most impactful. In tandem with developing or evolving an organization’s workplace well-being program, a review of an organization’s benefits plan design that looks specifically for barriers to treatment adherence is an important step.

Read: Employees on LTD more likely to claim for chronic disease medication for multiple conditions: report

A robust workplace well-being program should also address not only supporting employees in living well with their conditions, but also identifying and preventing the chronic condition itself, alongside preventing or slowing the progression of the disease and its potential complications. Helping employees reduce preventable risk factors by supporting lifestyle change is a key pillar of a chronic condition management strategy, as is the inclusion of elements like targeted disease management programs and health coaching to build support systems around employees.

Employers can also offer resources that provide support for people who don’t have a family doctor, help in navigating the healthcare system, and assistance in understanding the other supportive resources available to them as they build their care team.

The increasing reach of GLP-1s

While the last few years have seen plan sponsors and insurers grappling with the steep cost impacts of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist medications in the treatment of diabetes and for weight management, this class of drugs will be prescribed for a variety of other conditions in short order.

Already the medical community is seeing demonstrable benefits in the use of these drugs in patients with common comorbid conditions for type 2 diabetes and obesity like sleep apnea, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Plan sponsors can anticipate additional growth in this drug class as demand increases and it gains additional Health Canada approvals for conditions beyond their two current approved indications.

Read: Expert panel: Chronic disease management, GLP-1s among 2025 health benefits trends

Financial wellness

Amid the current economic environment, many Canadians are feeling the impacts of the rising costs of food and housing and may be feeling very uncertain about what the future holds for them given their current circumstances.

Financial wellness programs should place a greater emphasis on financial literacy this year to help employees and their families navigate the road ahead. Resources like budgeting supports, financial coaching or advice and debt management assistance should be front and centre this year. Employers can also help employees out by highlighting programs like discount programs or preferred pricing.

Mental health

A recent report from Canada Life found burnout rates have risen to 39 per cent in 2025, up from 25 per cent just two years ago.

It also found companies prioritizing prevention see a reduced rate of burnout rate at 27 per cent compared to 47 per cent for companies who don’t, for a savings of $3,400 per employee per year. Broad and robust mental-health supports and a psychologically safe workplace — along with well-being programs that focus on work-life balance — remain top priorities for employers in 2026.

There’s some overlap here with the focus on chronic disease management, as mental-health concerns are a common comorbidity with many chronic diseases and can be a chronic disease itself. Some of the same employer responses to their chronic disease strategy can lend themselves to their mental-health strategy as well.

Many employers probably already started to see these trends play out in some fashion as the last year closed out and have started to put things in place to address them, or have planned their approach for the new year.  Regardless, as employers continue to listen to their employees’ concerns and keep watch of what’s happening in their organization’s claims, employee assistance program and attendance data, organizations can continue to pivot to respond to what’s happening and bring value to their employees and their families.

Read: Vancity using data to support employees’ financial, mental health amid rising cost of living