Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | October 5, 2020 MindBeacon Group is launching a digital mental-health option to support all Canadians through heightened anxiety and stress related to the coronavirus pandemic. The organization found nearly half (46 per cent) of people starting therapy since the beginning of the pandemic via its Beacon digital platform indicated anxiety as their primary mental-health concern, which was up by 12 per cent when compared to pre-March 2020 figures. Read: How to support employees’ mental health during coronavirus The new therapy aims to help people develop a personalized collection of evidence-based techniques to successfully deal with stress, thus minimizing the risk of developing clinical anxiety or depression. “This new Beacon therapy capability gives Canadians one-to-one guidance from a registered therapist to learn valuable strategies and find the balance that they need to protect their mental well-being,” said Dr. Peter Farvolden, chief science officer at MindBeacon, in a press release. The therapy is available to most employees through employer or health services providers or as a reimbursable benefit through group benefits plans. In Ontario, the guided digital therapy is available free of charge during the pandemic via funding from the provincial government. Read: MindBeacon’s online CBT available for all Ontarians Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff  | October 5, 2020 The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario is naming Tony Algar as its new chief operating officer, effective Sept. 28. Algar joins the IMCO from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, where he spent the past 10 years, most recently as managing director and head of investment operations. He also previously held senior risk management and operations positions at RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities. Read: IMCO appointing chief strategist, CPPIB adds European senior advisor “Tony has strong leadership, depth of experience and knowledge of investment operations,” said Bert Clark, president and chief executive officer at the IMCO, in a press release. “His ability to drive IMCO’s operational excellence will help support the firm’s long-term growth and evolution.” As COO, Algar will oversee the integration and deployment of various functions at the IMCO including informational technology, investment operations, strategic development and project management. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

The union of two great Canadian organizations will form the most innovative customer, member- and advisor-centric life insurer in Canada Toronto, ON (Oct. 2, 2020) – Fraternal life insurer Foresters Financial (“Foresters”) and Canada Protection Plan, a leading distributor of No Medical and Simplified Issue life insurance, are pleased to announce they are joining forces in an amalgamation that will benefit their customers, advisors and employees. Bringing together the industry-leading sales and marketing power of Canada Protection Plan with the well-capitalized, purpose-driven Foresters Financial, this union will amplify the strengths of each organization and create the most innovative customer-, member- and advisor-centric life insurer in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, where they intend to remain, the organizations will benefit from the sharing of best practices, leveraging their innovative mobile and technology-enabled operations that are more important now than ever as customers and advisors move to contactless solutions. “We’re thrilled to make our longstanding partnership with Canada Protection Plan official,” said Jim Boyle, President and Chief Executive Officer, Foresters Financial. “Foresters is strongly committed to its life insurance business in North America and this agreement fits perfectly with our long-term goals. It will accelerate the expansion of our business in Canada and...

Surrey, BC (Oct. 2, 2020) – Westland Insurance Group Ltd. is pleased to announce the closing of two acquisitions, effective October 1, 2020. Westland’s new retail offices, both located in Alberta, support the company’s expansion strategy to serve more communities in Alberta and across Canada. Ironside Insurance Brokers is a family-owned brokerage located in Carstairs, Alberta. Its professional insurance advisors are experts in residential, auto, life, travel, recreation, farm and commercial insurance services. G&E Insurance has been providing insurance products to Picture Butte, Alberta, and its surrounding area for over 35 years. Their professional advisors provide residential, auto, travel, recreation, farm and commercial insurance services. Westland Insurance is excited to welcome these agencies to the organization. With these acquisitions, Westland will be adding two branches and 19 employees in Alberta. Post-acquisition, Westland will have over 1500 employees and 131 offices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About Westland Insurance Group Westland Insurance Group is a client-focused and community-based Property & Casualty insurance brokerage established in 1980 in Ladner, B.C. The company is one of Canada’s largest independent P&C insurance distributors with more than 130 offices throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Westland is considered a leader in home,...

Foresters Financial and Canada Protection Plan have announced an amalgamation that promises to benefit their customers, advisors, and employees. The union will amplify the strengths of each organization – including Forester’s healthy capitalization as well as Canada Protection Plan’s industry-leading sales and marketing power – which promises to forge “the most innovative customer-, member- and advisor-centric life insurer in Canada,” according to a statement proclaiming the move. “We’re thrilled to make our longstanding partnership with Canada Protection Plan official,” Foresters Financial President and CEO Jim Boyle said in a statement. “Foresters is strongly committed to its life insurance business in North America and this agreement fits perfectly with our long-term goals.” In an email to Life and Health Professional, Boyle said that Foresters Financial has been the exclusive life insurance underwriter for Canada Protection Plan since 2008. The two organizations have collaboratively brought out many product innovations over the years, including a groundbreaking suite of non-medical products introduced in 2016. He said that the agreement represents a continuation of Foresters’ strategy to be the best fraternal life insurer in North America. “The middle market has traditionally been ignored by the big life insurers who focus on the affluent and ultra-affluent. ...

Staff  | October 2, 2020 The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has appointed Paul Brundage as deputy chair of investments, effective Oct. 1. Previously, he was executive vice-president of Europe and Asia at the pension fund’s real estate arm Oxford Properties Group. As part of the transition, Joanne McNamara and David Matheson are being promoted to executive vice-presidents of Europe and Asia Pacific, assuming overall responsibility for Oxford’s European and Asia Pacific businesses. Brundage joined the OMERS’ real estate business in 1998 and became a part of Oxford following its acquisition by the OMERS in 2001. He led asset management and operations for Oxford’s Canadian business before being tasked with launching the organization’s European business in 2008 and relocating to London. Read: OMERS real estate arm investing $1B in British real estate “Over the past year, we’ve worked to transition our global leadership team and our ability to promote from within demonstrates the depth of talent we have within our ranks,” said Michael Turner, president of Oxford Properties, in a press release. “David and Joanne have already made substantial contributions to our Asia Pacific and European businesses and are positioned to deliver upon the next phase of Oxford’s growth story. “Paul’s impact on the Oxford...

Staff  | October 2, 2020 Workplace mental health and resilience app Headversity is partnering with Cowan Insurance Group to offer its resources to the consultancy’s plan sponsor clients. Headversity’s platform will provide plan members with access to training and tools to help build their resilience, level up their mental game and overcome life’s challenges, according to a press release. Read: Trucking company providing mental-health app for staff during coronavirus crisis “The ‘echo pandemic’ of mental health is threatening to be more devastating than the physical implication of COVID-19,” said Lianne Clarke, practice lead and vice-president of wellness and disability solutions at Cowan Insurance, in the release. “As everyone is trying to navigate these difficult times, employers are looking for more mental-health support options for their employees.  “While employee and family assistance programs and online cognitive behavioural therapy are great resources, building overall resilience and a proactive approach to mental health is an area currently lacking in the benefits space.”  Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Melissa Dunne | October 2, 2020 While many Canadians panicked and stocked up on toilet paper when a global pandemic was declared in March, most capital accumulation plan members stayed calm enough not to make fund changes, according to a webinar hosted by the Association of Canadian Pension Management on Thursday.  “[We] found, overall, plan members appear to be staying the course and maintaining a long-term view,” said Kate Nazar, vice-president of strategy and market development for group retirement services at Sun Life Financial. Indeed, a study by Sun Life found that between March 1 and July 6 about three per cent of plan members made fund changes.  The small percentage of plan members — who tended be in the more risk tolerant age group of 30 to 49  — who didn’t stay the course and made fund changes tried to capitalize off low markets, but tended to fare worse than those that didn’t make changes, she said. Read: 2020 CAP Member Survey webinar: Challenges ahead Educating employees about the benefits of not making rash decisions out of fear was and continues to be key, said Eleanor Marshall, vice-president of pension and benefits and assistant treasurer at Bell Canada. While a small percentage of plan members...

Martha Porado | October 2, 2020 At IBM Canada Ltd, if an employee joins a meeting, but doesn’t turn on their camera, the solution is simple: don’t worry about it. This is one attitude the company has formalized during the coronavirus pandemic to safeguard the mental well-being of its staff, says Katherine Faichnie, the technology company’s director of human resources. From a technology perspective, the organization had a fairly easy time transitioning to a work-from-home model, she adds. However, just because employees had the right tools, it didn’t mean every employee could simply continue with business as usual. “It wasn’t as easy as just telling people to work from home.” Read: Hyundai Canada addresses coronavirus with mental-health, connectivity initiatives Early on, IBM Canada was aware of the many reasons employees might have trouble settling into a work routine at home. Managers were given the discretion to allow workers up to 10 paid days off outside of normal vacation time, taken in either full or half days, to give them time to complete tasks that would settle them better into a routine. The company’s senior executives followed this with a pledge to set the tone for the pandemic, says Faichnie. “The purpose of this pledge was really to embrace a mindset across the company...

Empire Life has expanded its second telemedicine offering by announcing an addition to its benefit plans for globally mobile employees. The firm has added telemedicine services to its Voyageur Global Benefits suite of expatriate benefit plans administered by MetLife. With the new service, expatriate workers are empowered to speak with a doctor about minor medical conditions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using their mobile device. “Nearly two-in-five Canadians say they have faced COVID-related barriers to medical care and I’m sure the situation is similar for globally mobile employees,” said Vanessa Lycos, vice-president, Group Product and Marketing, in a statement. “With telemedicine, talking to a doctor is simple, fast and easy—any time of the day or night.” The new telemedicine service, delivered by AXA via the Doctor Please! App, offers access to a team of licensed doctors who are able to provide care worldwide. Nancy Brown, Voyageur Global Benefits Sales Director for MetLife, said just half of globally mobile employees in MetLife’s most recent Employee Benefits Trends study said they felt their employers offer benefits specifically tailored to their needs. “Our telemedicine service will provide peace of mind when it is needed most,” Brown said. “This new service...