Eight in 10 (80 per cent) small- and medium-sized employers in Eastern Canada say they don’t provide employee benefits, according to a new survey for Medavie Blue Cross by Abacus Data. The survey, which polled SMEs and SME workers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, found a third (35 per cent) of SMEs that don’t […]
A majority of plan sponsors (80 per cent) and plan members (77 per cent) described the quality of their health benefits plans as excellent or good, according to the 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. Employers with 500 or more employees (86 per cent) were more likely than those with fewer than 50 employees (72 per […]
Canadian life and health insurers processed nearly $600 million in claims related to mental health in 2021, up 45 per cent since 2020 and 75 per cent since 2019, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. “2021 was a year of recovery and insurers have been proud partners helping employers […]
The union representing employees at Glencore’s Raglan Mine in Nunavik, Que. has ratified an agreement that includes benefits gains and increases in paid disability leave. Nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of the members of United Steelworkers Local 9449 voted in favour of the five-year agreement, which includes short-term disability coverage of 70 per cent of […]
After living through a prolonged global pandemic, Canadian benefits plan sponsors are facing a professional environment that’s almost unrecognizable to pre-2020 years. The coronavirus pandemic affected employees at a personal level and is also being felt by employers and their workplace benefits plans, said Jason Kennedy, general manager of virtual pharmacy for TELUS Health, during […]
A recent court ruling that awarded a plaintiff $1.5 million in punitive damages against the Blue Cross Life Insurance Co. of Canada — in connection with its more than six-year denial of long-term disability benefits — could result in increased costs for employer-sponsored benefits plans. “If this sets a precedent, then higher awards will be […]
While more than a third of disability claims under Canadian employer-sponsored benefits plans in 2022 were due to mental-health reasons, just two-thirds (63 per cent) of organizations are addressing this risk effectively, according to a new survey by Mercer. The survey, which polled more than 100 organizations globally, found more than half (55 per cent) […]
In the age of the #MeToo movement, the coronavirus pandemic and the global outcry for social justice, Canadians workers have been glued to their phones or tablets. Doomscrolling — the ongoing consumption of negative news — is taking its toll on their mental health. Doomscrolling is on the rise in Canada and employers need to […]
In the first quarter of 2022, new annual premiums for supplemental health insurance products totalled $1.1 billion in the U.S., a six per cent increase from the same period last year, according to LIMRA’s latest workplace benefits sales surveys. Most workplace supplemental health insurance product lines ― accident, critical illness, cancer and hospital indemnity insurance ― […]
The IWA–Forest Industry pension plan and long-term disability plan are appointing Mark Guiton as chief executive officer. Guiton (pictured left), who has been the organizations’ general counsel since 2017, is replacing outgoing CEO Derrick Johnstone. Prior to joining the IWA, he was director of legal services for the British Columbia Safety Authority for more than nine years. […]