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 […]
The last 10 to 15 working years before retirement is a powerful and precarious time for defined contribution plan members, with roughly half of the retirement savings they’ll accumulate in their lifetime built up in that window of time as they reach their peak earning years, according to Glenn Dial, vice-president of retirement thought leadership […]
KPMG in Canada is aiming to boost plan member engagement with its retirement savings programs with a host of changes, including a refreshed defined contribution plan investment lineup, a new first home savings account, financial education programming, digital tools and switching record keepers. The changes, launched in early October, stemmed from a review of the […]
While society’s understanding of women’s health has significantly evolved in the last few years, employee benefits plans haven’t yet caught up. “We expect men and women to interact with their plan in the same way and that’s just not true,” said Erika Hatherly, strategic leader for drug programs, group benefits and retirement solutions at iA […]
As effective weight management drugs come to market, it’s time to move beyond outdated approaches to obesity care and towards holistic treatment strategies, said Marie-Hélène Dugal, national pharmacy strategy lead for Medavie Blue Cross, during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Toronto Benefits Summit. Obesity is a progressive, relapsing and complex chronic disease characterized by abnormal and excessive […]
When Bell Canada was communicating defined contribution plan changes to members in 2024, it turned to artificial intelligence to help personalize its message to all of its 25,000 plan members. The redesign, which aimed to respond to members’ different financial priorities, enhanced the company’s savings options with a first home savings account, a tax-free savings […]
Most people, while standing in line at a cafe, contemplate whether to get their regular drip coffee or treat themselves to a latte, and whether to also buy a croissant or scone. Canadians with insulin-dependent diabetes, standing in that same line, are doing complex calculations: how many carbs are in a latte’s milk and flavour […]
Canadian benefits plan sponsors are increasingly seeking to balance providing competitive benefits against plan sustainability issues, said expert panellists during the launch event for the 2024 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey last week. Andrea Belvedere (pictured right), assistant vice-president of health benefits and solutions at Sun Life, said plan sponsors are starting to ask more questions […]
Many plan members are experiencing risk factors related to poor mental, physical and financial well-being, but often don’t know they can turn to their benefits plans for help. Indeed, when Canada Life’s disability claims report asked plan members going on disability whether they sought out counselling through their benefits plans, more than half said they […]
About a year before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Algonquin College updated its disability management program. The timing set the Ottawa-based college up for success when the crisis hit, says Jessica Myers, its acting manager of wellness and abilities, allowing her team to focus on proactive supports, knowing case management was well in hand. […]