“The saying ‘change or die’ has been around forever, but right now, that’s more true than ever,” said Linda Duxbury, a professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, during the keynote session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference. “We are in extremely unsettled times. The pandemic shook our foundations of how we do a […]
When a plan sponsor was seeing musculoskeletal issues come up in disability claims, it wanted to figure out if it could do more to support employees, according to Tamara Harduwar (pictured right), Manulife Canada’s director of health insights and outcomes for group benefits. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference, she said […]
It was 2023 and Henry Schein Canada was “late to the wellness party,” recalled Faye Gagne (pictured centre), the company’s manager of employee relations and wellness. Post-pandemic, the company’s culture surveys indicated employee stress levels were high, she said, noting she and other senior leaders wanted to reduce disability leave instances and durations, as well […]
Since the only treatment for type one diabetes is insulin, there’s only one option for treating the condition, according to Andrew Muirhead (pictured right), territory manager at Insulet Corporation, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference. Around 400,000 Canadians require insulin multiple times a day with type one diabetes cases growing about 4.4 per […]
Among the 21 million Canadians in the workforce, eight million are women over the age of 40. “We have a large workforce that’s going through the journey of menopause,” said Shawna O’Hearn, co-director and founder at Menopause Society of Nova Scotia, in a session sponsored by Astellas during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference. A 2023 […]
Implementing a wellness strategy during the pandemic helped Montreal-based automotive and heavy parts distributor UAP Inc. boost employee engagement, reduce the stigma around mental health for its predominantly male workforce and improve plan members’ financial well-being. In a session during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference, Geneviève Hébert (pictured right), the organization’s senior director of […]
Plan sponsors have far more access to benefits utilization and organizational health data than in recent years, but challenges persist with fragmentation and consistency across providers, as well as as difficulty turning data into action, according to a panel discussion at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Healthy Outcomes Conference. “We have 12 sources of data [from external […]
Despite growing awareness of reproductive health, two-thirds (67 per cent) of global employees who have experienced fertility challenges say their workplaces don’t offer support for employees undergoing fertility treatment, according to a new survey by Fertility Matters. The survey — which polled more than 3,600 employees in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the U.K. — […]
With travel to the U.S. becoming anxious, if not risky, for many Canadians, employers are facing the prospect of employees refusing to travel south of the border. But can employers require employees to do so, and do employees have a basis on which to refuse? “My advice to employers is not to assume that employees […]
Venn Software Inc. is encouraging employees to take care of their physical and mental health through nudges and friendly competitions. The Toronto-based fintech company’s benefits platform, provided by Alan Inc., includes an app that periodically reminds employees to be active or take care of their mental health, says Ahmed Shafik, Venn’s co-founder. “The team likes […]