Canadian companies can offer a comprehensive insurance plan to their Team Members and a local pension solution. Some of the coverage highlights include:
Insurances
- Comprehensive outpatient care, including drugs, vision, and therapies.
- Dental coverage on minor and major procedures
- Life, AD&D, and Long-Term Disability
- Critical Illness
- Travel Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Pension
- Registered Retirement Savings Plan with multiple investment choices
- No minimum or maximum contribution
- Spousal RRSP
Benefits providers
Oyster works with top local insurance providers in Canada who understand the market and offer reliable service.
- Insurances: Canada Life
- Pension: Co-operators
Pricing
Insurances
- The number of dependents does not impact the family price.
- The insurance is 100% employer covered. There is no cost split between the company and the team member.
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Individual Family Healthcare C$129,6 C$287,3 Dental C$63,3 C$170,5 Critical Illness C$11,1 C$11,1 EAP C$4,4 C$4,4 Life, AD&D* C$5,9 C$5,9 Long-Term Disability* C$58,3 C$58,3 Dependent Life C$0,00 C$1,02 Taxes** C$21,7 C$42,9 Total Cost C$294,2 C$581,4 -
Individual Family Healthcare $95.90 $212.60 Dental $46.80 $126.60 Critical Illness $8.20 $8.20 EAP $3.30 $3.30 Life, AD&D* $4.40 $4.40 Long-Term Disability* $43.10 $43.10 Dependent Life $0 $0.80 Taxes** $16.00 $31.80 Total Cost $217.70 $430.30 -
Individual Family Healthcare €89,4 €198,2 Dental €43,6 €117,6 Critical Illness €7,6 €7,6 EAP €3,0 €3,0 Life, AD&D* €4,1 €4,1 Long-Term Disability* €40,2 €40,2 Dependent Life €0,0 €0,7 Taxes** €15,0 €29,6 Total Cost €203,0 €401,2 -
Individual Family Healthcare £76,4 £169,5 Dental £37,3 £100,6 Critical Illness £6,5 £6,5 EAP £2,6 £2,6 Life, AD&D* £3,5 £3,5 Long-Term Disability* £34,4 £34,4 Dependent Life £0,0 £0,6 Taxes** £12,8 £25,3 Total Cost £173,6 £343,0
*Life and long-term disability insurance premiums will vary according to the team member's salary. The values in the above table were estimated considering the average premium paid by Oyster for these benefits. Thus, the final premium value can be lower or higher than the values presented.
** Taxes were also estimated considering the average values charged in Oyster policy
Pension
While the average employer contribution to RRSP in Canada ranges from 3% to 5% of the team member's salary, there is no minimum or maximum contribution for the company and the team member.
Investment management fees (IMF) will apply to values deposited in the RRSP account. They will vary depending on the fund chosen by the team member.
Taxation
Insurance
There are two types of taxes applicable to products offered in our insurance packages: Goods and Services Tax (GST) / Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and Provincial Sales Tax (PST). The former has a 5% rate and applies to the EAP product. In comparison, the latter has an average levy of 8% (it can vary depending on the province) and applies to all other insurance premiums.
Pension
If the team member's total contribution (Employee+Employer) surpasses 18% of his previous year's income or the limit defined by CRA (Canada Revenue Services), the values above such limitations will be taxable. Also, any withdrawals made before retirement are liable to taxation.
The employee handles the management and eventual payment of such taxes without any involvement from the company.
Dependents
Insurances
Team members can add a spouse/partner and children up to 22 years old as dependents. Other relatives, such as parents, brothers, and grandparents, are not eligible. The family premium will be the same, regardless of how many dependents are included in the policy.
The company cannot restrict the enrollment of dependents in the plan. If the insurance is offered to a team member, customers will also cover the cost for the dependents.
Pension
The team member can create and direct the totality or part of his RRSP deposits toward his spouse's RRSP account. He can do it at the time of his enrollment or any moment afterward.
It is essential to highlight that any deposit made to the team member's spousal account will contribute towards the exemption limits for RRSP.
Renewal
Plan renewal happens every 12 months in July, and price readjustments are expected to happen. Such hikes will be based on the overall claim experience of the policy and in the local medical inflation.
Enrolling your Team Member in Canada into a local benefits package
You can register your team into local benefits in Canada from the hiring flow or from the in-app benefits flow.
From the hiring flow:
- After you fill out the compensation details, you will be taken to the Benefits section of the hiring form.
- Select the benefits packages based on your company’s benefits strategy.
- Make a selection to see the total estimated monthly costs.
From the benefits flow:
- Click People > Benefits from the left menu in your Oyster account.
- On the Benefits page, please review the list of engaged Team Members and their benefits enrollment status. Click Enroll Benefits to enroll a Team Member into benefits.
- The Request Benefits Enrollment page opens. Select a plan.
Local benefits plan options are listed for India, Poland, the United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Spain, and global benefits provider Allianz is listed for other countries.
- Click Send request. Wait for the success message to appear.
- The Oyster support team and the benefits vendors will begin the enrollment process.
Allianz Health Global Insurance
Offering local benefits that comply with and supplement the local laws helps you remain competitive against what local employers provide and ensures better access to doctors, hospitals, tests, claims, and more.
You can also offer Allianz Health global insurance as an add-on, especially if:
- Your Team Member frequently travels and works outside of their country. Global benefits provide coverage in 165+ countries.
- A local provider already covers Your Team Member through partner or family insurance. Global benefits would be more valuable in this case.
Due to local regulations, all coverages deemed medically relevant, such as inpatient care and most outpatient coverage (i.e., appointments with physicians and exams), are fully covered by universal public insurance. No medical facilities cover exclusively private insurances, which makes Allianz or any other global or travel insurance solution redundant for those coverages.
FAQ
Insurances
Enrollment
How can my team member view his insurance enrollment status?
He will receive an e-mail from Canada Life requesting him to enroll in the plan. After he completes the process, he will receive another mail confirming your enrollment.
When will their insurance coverage be active?
The insurance will be active from the date of completion of his enrollment on the Canada Life platform.
How do I log in to the insurance platform?
You can log in at https://my.canadalife.com/sign-in. You must use the e-mail and password defined at the time of your enrollment.
Where can I find the policy details?
You can find them on the links at the end of this page.
When can they enroll?
They will have 31 days to enroll, counting from your joining date in Oyster.
Is there a benefits card?
No. However, team members will receive their policy number through e-mail (from Canada Life). With that information, they will have access to all the coverage applicable to your plan.
What will happen if they enroll at a later date?
Suppose they decide to enroll after 31 days after his date of joining. In that case, he will have to contact our support team to initiate the late enrollment process, which will involve additional steps and documentation from the team members' side.
Also, the insurance will only be active when Canada Life completes the approval process and the coverage will have some limitations, such as reduced reimbursement values, during the next 12 months.
How can they opt out?
If they fail to respond to enrollment mail from Canada Life, we will consider that you have opted out of this benefit.
Claims and Reimbursement
How can they request reimbursement from Canada Life?
There are three ways to submit health and dental claims:
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Paper
- Fill out a claim form
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Online via Canada Life
- Sign in to the platform and submit your claims.
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Through your healthcare provider
- Your pharmacist, dental office, optical location, or paramedical provider can submit a claim on your behalf.
Taxation
Are there any taxes applicable to those Benefits?
There are taxes applicable to some of the benefits offered by Oyster. We recommend you to check the Taxation segment of this page for more details.
Dependents
How do they add a dependent? Can I add them at any time?
Team members must add eligible dependents at the time of their enrollment and within the 31-day deadline. If they decide to enroll them later, the same process and restrictions will apply to their dependents enrollment process
In the case of newborns or marriage/common-law relationships, the new dependent should be included up to 31 days after the birth/ date of the union.
Which dependents can be added to the plan?
Team members can add a spouse/partner and children up to 22 years old as dependents. Other relatives, such as parents, brothers, and grandparents, are not eligible.
Emergencies
What are the emergency contacts? What team members should do in such cases?
In case of medical emergencies, we recommend team members in Canada to call 911. They can also reach out to Canada Life through its global 24/7 helpline.
| Canada & United States | Cuba | Rest of the world |
| 1-855-222-4051 | 1-204-946-2946 | 1-204-946-2577 |
They can request reimbursement for long-distance charges from calls outside Canada and the US by including the receipt as part of their claim.
Pension
How can my team members view their enrollment status?
After they complete the Enrollment Form submission, they will receive in up to 15 days an e-mail from Co-operators with their account details and a guide to log in to the Co-operators system.
When will the Pension deduction/employer contribution start?
After they finalize the enrollment process, it might take up to two payroll cycles (around 30 days) to deposit the deductions/contributions in your RRSP account.
Is there any maximum or minimum limit for the Employee/Employer contribution?
There are no minimum or maximum contributions for the employee and the employer. You will define if there will be any employer contributions towards the team member's RRSP and in which conditions.
How do they log in to their account?
They can log in on the Benefits Now website. You must use the email and password defined at the time of your enrollment.
Where can they find more details on their pension?
They can find more details on the Co-operators platform by clicking the View My Plan button on the home screen.
When can they enroll?
RRSP enrollment can happen at any time. The deadlines for both the enrollment process and contributions are the same as for individuals who have enrolled at the time of their joining.
How can they opt out?
If you fail to submit the RRSP enrollment form, we will consider that they have opted out of this benefit.
Taxation
Are there any taxes applicable to pension?
If the Team member's total contribution (Employee+ Employer) surpasses 18% of your previous year's income or the limits defined by CRA (Canada Revenue Services), the values above the limit will be taxable. Also, any withdrawals made before retirement are taxed.
The management and eventual payment of such taxes are solely made by the employee, without any involvement from the company.
Dependents
Can they make a deposit on behalf of their spouse?
Yes. They can create a spousal RRSP account at the time of their enrollment or any moment afterward.
It is essential to highlight that any deposit made to a spousal account will be counted towards the CRA exemption limits for RRSP.
Support
If you have further questions regarding the benefits packages offered by Oyster, please contact Oyster Support, where our dedicated Support team member will assist you.
