Hub International Ltd. has acquired yet another benefits brokerage: Quebec-based Les Avantages Sociaux Delta Inc. Based in the Montreal area, Delta provides support and actuarial services for group insurance and retirement plans, as well as human resources and disability management. With the acquisition, Delta will join Hub’s Quebec business. Delta’s founder and chairman, Roger d’Eschambault, […]
The Canada Infrastructure Bank has appointed Annie Ropar as its chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, effective June 1. In her duties as chief financial officer, Ropar will handle financial oversight of the bank’s activities, including implementation of key finance processes and controls, assessing performance and developing the framework for enterprise risk management. In […]
Less than half of working Canadians have disability coverage provided through their workplace benefits, according to a survey by RBC Insurance Services Inc. The survey, which queried 1,505 working Canadians, found the percentage of people who had disability coverage through their work has dropped to 48 per cent from 57 per cent in 2015. Read: 48% […]
France-based insurance company April has acquired Benecaid Health Benefits Solutions Inc. The acquisition will allow the Lyon, France-based company to expand and diversify the Canadian side of its business beyond property and casualty insurance, according to a press release. April has been active in the Canadian property and casualty insurance market for more than 10 years, […]
Hub International Ltd. has acquired Windsor, Ont.-based retirement and benefits firm the Benefits Company Inc. The deal follows a recent string of acquisitions by Hub International over the past few months, including Burnaby, B.C.-based Pointbreak Consulting Group Ltd.; Kitchener, Ont.-based GMS Insurance Inc.; and Dallas, Texas-based IPS Advisors LLP. “By joining Hub, brokerages have the opportunity to expand as […]
With fraud prevention month underway, just how big of a problem is the issue for plan sponsors? “As an industry, we estimate that benefits fraud is costing . . . hundreds of millions in terms of the impact, so certainly not a small problem,” says Karen Voin, vice-president of group benefits and anti-fraud at the Canadian Life […]
The hepatitis C hump is over. Since 2014, Health Canada has approved several promising medications for the disease. While the direct-acting antivirals offer cure rates of more than 90 per cent, they cost tens of thousands of dollars, and benefits plans felt the pinch. But now, “after an initial spike in treatment requests, claims have […]
Saskatchewan’s announcement that it’s reinstating its provincial sales tax exemption for life and health insurance premiums is welcome news for plan sponsors in the province. Debra Wiegers, a benefits consultant and head of the group benefits division at Saskatoon-based Wiegers Financial & Benefits, says calculations conducted by some of her employer clients show savings of between […]
Alberta Blue Cross is reducing its rates for dental benefits to align with recent changes to Alberta’s dental fee guide. The new fee guide, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2018, provides for an 8.5 per cent cut in suggested prices for 60 common procedures. Group benefits plans provided by Alberta Blue Cross that refer to usual and customary dental […]
A proposed guideline setting out standards for the disclosure of intermediary compensation in group benefits and retirement services could have a big effect on the market. Dave Patriarche, president of Mainstay Insurance Brokerage Inc. and founder of Canadian Group Insurance Brokers Inc., is supportive of compensation disclosure and says the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s new guideline makes […]