Best Buy Canada Ltd. has had a well-used on-site gym at its Burnaby, B.C. head office for a decade. But when employees started working from home during the pandemic, the company decided to bring the gym to their laptops with a virtual fitness program. “We realized that staying fit and staying active was something we […]
The City of Mississauga’s acting senior manager of total rewards talks virtual health care, pension communications and spending time with family. Q. What top challenges do you face in your role? A. I think we can say there are two worlds: pre-coronavirus and post-coronavirus. In the current situation, the top challenge is making sure our […]
EQ Care is forming a partnership with RWAM Insurance Administrators Inc. with the aim of facilitating access to virtual health-care services. RWAM, a Canadian third-party administrator of group insurance benefits, offers services including medical consulting sessions, triage and medication prescribing. Read: EQ Care, myHSA enter agreement expanding access to telemedicine Virtual health-care services could be […]
Digital benefits company myHSA and virtual health-care organization EQ Care are entering into an agreement to expand access to telemedicine. Through the agreement, EQ Care will be added to myHSA’s Benefits Bucket suite, so plan members can access on-demand health-care support by experienced medical professionals who have received in-depth training on the coronavirus. Read: Sun […]
Canada could experience a 2.6-fold increase in visits to mental-health practitioners and up to a 20 per cent increase in antidepressant prescriptions due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by Deloitte. The report explored the human and social impact of natural disasters and periods of economic hardship — such as […]
Sun Life Financial is making an equity investment of $32.7 million in Canadian telemedicine provider Dialogue, with the two entities forming a strategic commercial partnership. Through the deal, Sun Life will hold a minority ownership position in Dialogue. The round of financing also includes further investments from existing backers, including the Caisse de dépôt et placement […]
iA Financial Group is launching a service for its group plan members to target major mental-health issues that contribute to absenteeism and disability claims. The new mental-health coaching service, which will be managed by health services provider Novus Health, is set to launch on Aug. 1, 2020 and will be provided to plan members for […]
The pandemic changed our world and our jobs overnight and stretched compassion, empathy and flexibility to the limit. There has never been a better time to reconsider everything about employee benefits. For me as a benefits consultant, the crisis has highlighted how unprepared the typical benefits plan is to truly support the needs of employees in […]
The coronavirus pandemic is dramatically affecting workplaces, employers and employees across Canada, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. While a third of surveyed employers said they already offered telehealth or telemedicine before the pandemic, an additional 19 per cent said they added it during the crisis and another […]
RBC Insurance is offering additional mental-health resources for plan sponsors and their members. The free resources include therapist-assisted online cognitive behavioural therapy through AbilitiCBT, as well as a series of manager mental-health training webinars to help employers support their workforce. These will cover a wide variety of topics, such as navigating the new normal, leading […]