Amazon.com says it’s investing more than a US$1 billion to raise wages and lower the cost of health-care plans for its U.S. fulfillment and transportation workers. The Seattle-based company said the average pay is increasing to more than $23 per hour. Some of its most tenured employees will see an increase between $1.10 and $1.90 […]
A record number of benefits plan members are dealing with extreme levels of daily stress, according to the 2025 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. The 27th edition of the survey, which polled 1,000 Canadian group benefits plan members and 500 plan sponsors earlier this year, found two in five (39 per cent) members said they experience […]
While just a quarter (24 per cent) of Canadian small- and medium-sized employers say they’ve seen an increase in employee absences due to mental-health issues over the last 12 months, eight in 10 (80 per cent) say they aren’t confident that employees would disclose mental-health issues, according to a new survey by Peninsula Canada. The […]
An article on the Ontario government’s return-to-office mandate for provincial employees was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. My Take: Ontario’s latest return-to-work mandate is misinformed, short-sighted 2. Ontario Teachers’ investing US$40 million in HR platform, […]
When it comes to career decisions, Canadian workers are split between exploration and stability, said Deborah Bottineau, managing director at Robert Half Canada, in an emailed statement to Benefits Canada. “Those seeking a change aren’t only chasing higher pay — in fact, for the first time since we began tracking worker sentiment, better benefits and […]
Employers can support workers impacted by this summer’s wildfires through flexible working arrangements, mental-health resources and clear communication, says Kim Siddall, national vice-president of client strategy at People Corporation. “Employers are looking at different ways to support people, both on the mental health and physical health side, because of disruption and displacement [from evacuation] as […]
Among Canadian companies that say they’re bracing for a recession (76 per cent), a fifth (22 per cent) say they’ve paused hiring for the remainder of 2025, according to a new survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of Express Services Inc. The survey, which polled more than 500 employers, found nearly a third (30 […]
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union is using its internal benefits and employee data to react to the financial realities that workers are facing amid the rising cost of living, says Ivana Afonso, the organization’s director of total rewards. “We know the cost-of-living crisis is hitting our core-aged employees hardest, especially those balancing housing, childcare and […]
Gender differences in mental health manifest through biology, gender roles and cultural expectations, according to Carmen Bellows, registered psychologist and director of mental health solutions at Sun Life Financial Inc., during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit. Taking all mental-health disorders into account, she said there are no gender differences in the […]
Women’s mental health has historically been underfunded and under-researched, with just three per cent of neuroscience and psychiatry studies between 2009 and 2019 conducted exclusively in females, compared to about 30 per cent in males, according to research cited by Manulife Canada’s Georgia Pomaki during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit. Yet, […]