Employee group benefits
Health, dental, income and life coverage for your team, with help at every renewal.
- A reason to join and stay
- benefits your team values
- A tax-efficient way to pay
- premiums are generally a business expense
- Easy for your team to join
- most coverage with no medical questions
Group benefits
The yearly renewal cycle.
A group plan isn’t set and forget. Each year the insurer reviews how the plan was used and sets new rates. Here is the cycle, and where we help at each step.
Plan year
Employees use the plan, and their claims build up its track record.
Our part: answer questions and help with claims and enrolment.
Renewal
The insurer reviews the claims and proposes new rates for the coming year.
Our part: check the insurer’s numbers and negotiate.
Market review
The renewal is assessed for fairness.
Our part: take the plan to market when it makes sense.
Plan changes
Coverage or the insurer is adjusted as needed.
Our part: recommend changes as appropriate, and explain them to your team.
Repeats every year
Most group plans renew once a year. Timing and process vary by insurer.
What’s included
What a plan can include.
Most plans start with health and dental, then add income and life coverage. You choose what to include, and the plan can change as your business grows.
Health
- Prescription drugs
- Extended health and paramedical
- Vision care
- Dental care
Income and life
- Life insurance
- Short term disability
- Long term disability
- Critical illness
Accounts and savings
- Health spending account
- Lifestyle spending account
- Group retirement savings
Support and key people
- Employee assistance program
- Wellness programs
- Executive benefits for key people
Spending accounts and key people benefits have their own pages, linked below.
How it works
How a group plan works.
A group plan works differently from insurance you buy on your own.
Everyone eligible joins
Eligible employees join the plan together. Those already covered under a spouse’s plan can usually opt out of health and dental.
Coverage without medical questions
Most employees get their coverage without answering health questions, up to a limit set by the plan.
Priced as a group
Small groups are priced together with others like them. Larger groups are priced partly on their own claims.
Other ways to fund a plan
Most plans are fully insured. For larger groups looking at other funding arrangements, we bring in specialists to advise.
Cost
What affects the cost.
Group size
Larger groups usually cost less per person.
Your team
The ages of your employees, and who’s covered: single or family.
What’s included
The benefits you choose, and their maximums and deductibles.
Claims history
For larger groups, how the plan was used last year.
Province
Health care costs differ by province.
Your industry
Some types of work carry higher disability and life rates.
Is it right for your business?
Who it suits.
May suit you if
- You have at least two people to cover.
- You want to attract good people and keep them.
- You’re an incorporated business, or a registered charity or non-profit.
- You want help reviewing the plan at every renewal.
Something else may fit better if
- It’s just you, in your own corporation.Health spending accounts
- You’re self-employed and not incorporated.Health and dental insurance
Frequently asked questions
All questionsAre employee group benefits mandatory for Canadian employers?
No. Canadian employers don’t have to offer group benefits. Many choose to, because a plan gives their team health, dental, income and life coverage, and premiums are generally a business expense.
Can part-time employees in Canada access group benefits?
It depends on how your plan defines an eligible employee. Most plans set a minimum number of hours worked each week, and part-time employees who meet it can join. Some plans also add a waiting period for new employees before coverage starts.
What is the minimum number of employees required for a company in Canada to be eligible for an employee group benefits plan?
A group plan can start with as few as two people covered, though many insurers are reluctant to quote groups that small, and larger groups usually cost less per person. If it’s just you, in your own corporation, a health spending account is often a better fit.
Related articles
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Related to employee group benefits
- Health spending accounts Pay health and dental costs through your business.
- Lifestyle spending accounts A taxable account for the lifestyle and wellness costs you choose.
- Key person insurance Protects your business if you lose someone vital to it.
- Global medical care Specialist care sooner, at a facility you choose, worldwide.
A question about your coverage? Ask us.
No obligation. We’ll tell you plainly what we think, including when you already have what you need.