Important information
- If you have Short-Term Disability (STD) plans that integrate with the EI sickness benefit, you may wish to align your maximum benefit period to 26/27 weeks (depending on the STD elimination period).
- If your plan doesn’t have STD and your plan members claim EI benefits prior to Long-Term Disability (LTD), you may wish to align your LTD elimination period to 27 weeks (aligns with the 1-week EI wait period plus 26 weeks of payments).
- If you qualify for the Premium Reduction Program (PRP), there won’t be any immediate impact.
- PRP eligibility won’t be subject to change at this time.
If you don’t make these changes, there’s a chance your plan members will receive EI and disability benefits at the same time. When this change is in effect, you may wish to advise your plan members who receive EI sickness benefits to contact Service Canada to discuss potential impacts to their benefits.
Because this change is not mandatory, there is no need to make this change by a specific date. We understand you’ll need time to consider what is right for your benefits program. This change can be made at any time.
If you wish to adjust your STD benefit period, or LTD elimination period, you can contact your advisor or group benefits representative. You’ll be able to discuss options and pricing. We’ll assess rate changes to revised STD and LTD plans on a plan-by-plan basis.
The 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey results are in!
The results from this year’s Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey contain many interesting insights!
They’ll help you understand how plan members are feeling about their benefits plans, overall health, and the workplace. You’ll also learn about the opinions of other plan sponsors on a variety of different topics.
Here’s a small sample of topics featured in the report:
- Mental health, including stress and anxiety in the workplace
- Virtual care
- DE&I, including workplace discrimination
- Plan sustainability and more!
Survey statistics snapshot – this is just a few of the interesting findings you’ll discover in the report.
- 22% of plan members said their mental health has been poor over the last year.
- 41% of plan members received virtual care from a health-care provider over the last year.
- Plan members facing discrimination in the workplace are twice as likely to experience high levels of stress.
- 9 out of 10 plan sponsors agreed they promote and support a diverse workplace.
- 31% of plan sponsors have concerns about the sustainability of their benefits plans.1