The Canadian Press – Jun 20, 2016 / 7:26 pm | Story: 168736 Both Canadian workers and their employers will soon be on the hook for higher contributions to the Canada Pension Plan after the federal government reached an agreement with most of the provinces Monday to revamp the program for the first time in […]
There are several new drugs for cancer and rare diseases coming into the marketplace that fall into the “extremely expensive” category. That is because the pharma pricing model is imperfect and drug prices are difficult to control let alone predict both here and in the US. The reality is that drug plans were not designed […]
1. Reduced waiting period for EI Benefits The first key change is to reduce the waiting period for new recipients from 2 weeks to 1 week effective January 1, 2017. Administrative improvements to speed up actual delivery of benefits. 2. Extension of EI “working while on claim: Pilot The program which allows the unemployed […]
Life-insurance providers have told the federal government its members are willing to lift the standard two-year exemption for suicides and pay out policies on people who end their lives through physician-assisted death, says the head of the industry’s professional association. Life-insurance policies typically contain an industry-standard clause releasing providers from paying if a client commits […]
Your health is important – complete the Personal Health Risk Assessment today! – with Great West Life Are your eating, sleeping or drinking habits putting you at risk? Do you know how your physical activities and lifestyle affect your health? To help answer these questions, Great-West Life has enhanced our easy to use online Personal […]
Are you growing your team this year? Perhaps replacing someone who left your team? Recruiting can feel like the final straw for some people. Many small businesses in Canada operate with limited resources, making it all the more important they recruit and hire the right people, train them properly, and retain their staff while helping […]
The Compassionate Care Benefit is designed to provide temporary support to eligible individuals who must be away from work to care for a gravely ill family member at risk of death. Effective January 3, 2016, changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) Compassionate Care benefit program came into effect. Prior to January 3, 2016 a claimant […]
Staying current on the latest legal issues related to benefits is important as Canadian employees continue trending towards becoming an older and aging workforce. A recent British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) decision heard a complaint that alleged the City of Vancouver’s group benefits plan is discriminatory based on age under s.13(3)(b) of the British […]
Canada would save billions of dollars if we instituted a national drug plan. A report was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal making this assertion and it rightly attracted a lot of attention and conversation across the country. This is not a new topic – for years some groups and political parties have advocated […]
Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in Canada. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, 1 in 4 Canadians are living with diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetes. If incidence continues at the current rate, by 2020, it will be 1 in 3. The impact on your organization More than 50 per cent […]
