VRSP stands for "Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan" and was introduced in March 2012 by the Province of Quebec. There are more than 1.1 million Quebecers who don't have access to a workplace savings plan, and one of the government's goals for the VRSP is to address this problem. The plan is tailored to meet the [...]
Hats off to Green Shield Canada for coining the phrase, the “Impactables”. It is a fitting phrase to describe a segment of the active claiming population that may or may not be consuming costly homeopathy or biologic medications, but who are also using ‘multiple therapeutic medications’ to treat a wide range of traditional chronic ailments. This would [...]
To manage healthcare costs for catastrophic events, the CLHIA (Canadian Life and Health and Insurance Association) announced an agreement that calls for participating carriers to pool eligible drug claims in excess of a stipulated amount and to set customer premiums without including these pooled claims. For Plan Sponsors who have been impacted by employees/members who [...]
Taxable benefits in 2013 include accidental death and dismemberment and critical illness. Following the announcement of the federal government on March 29, 2012, employer-paid premiums for Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) and for Critical Illness (CI) insurance will become taxable benefits to employees across Canada. Premiums paid after March 29th, 2012 will be used to [...]
What benefits should be included in severance packages and how can an employer mitigate its costs? There are many factors to consider when terminating an employee – is it a layoff or for just cause, what are the statutory rules regarding proper notice or pay in lieu of notice? Also, what benefits should be included [...]
