Group benefits in Ontario
Ontario employees are among the most reliant on employer coverage in the country, and Ontario employers carry both an Employer Health Tax and a sales tax on insurance premiums. Both belong in the plan conversation.
We are licensed in Ontario. Our advisors hold current licensing recognised by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), and we place and service plans for Ontario employers directly. Ask us for the licence number.
What is different about a benefits plan in Ontario
Four things vary by province, and all four change what your plan should look like.
Public plan — OHIP
Drug program — Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) and the Trillium Drug Program
Employer payroll tax — Employer Health Tax (EHT)
Taxable benefit treatment
Payroll tax thresholds, rates and drug program details are set in provincial budgets and change. The summary above reflects our 2026 review and is general information, not tax advice — confirm current-year figures with the Ontario finance ministry or your accountant before you budget from them.
Designing for Ontario, not for a template
Northern and rural Ontario employers face two things a downtown template rarely prices for: significant travel and medical transport exposure when the nearest specialist is hours away, and paramedical limits that look generous on paper but are unusable when there is no local practitioner. Design around availability, not just dollar limits.
Talk it throughWhere Ontario employees are
- Toronto
- Ottawa
- Thunder Bay
- Kenora
- Hamilton
- London
- Regulator
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
- Public health plan
- OHIP
- Employer payroll tax
- Employer Health Tax (EHT)
Coverage for Ontario employees
The same eight practice areas, tuned to what the public plan here does and does not do.
Extended Health & Dental
The core of every plan — and where most of the money goes.
Learn moreDisability, Life & Critical Illness
The coverage nobody thinks about until the worst week of their life.
Learn moreHealth & Wellness Spending Accounts
Flexible dollars for a workforce that wants different things.
Learn moreMental Health & EAP
The fastest-growing line of claims in the country.
Learn moreGroup Retirement & Savings
Group RRSP, DPSP, TFSA and pension — coordinated with the benefits plan.
Learn moreRenewal Strategy & Marketing
The part most brokers do once a year in an email. We do it all year.
Learn moreAdministration & Compliance Support
We take the plan admin off your HR team’s desk.
Learn moreExecutive & Owner Benefits
For the people whose departure would change the business.
Learn moreQuestions employers actually ask us
No hedging. If the honest answer is “you do not need us for that,” that is the answer you will get.
Insurance intermediaries in Ontario are regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). The band at the top of this page states whether we currently hold Ontario licensing. Ask any broker for their licence number — one who hesitates at that question is telling you something.
Ontario applies retail sales tax to group insurance premiums, so the number on your invoice is higher than the underlying rate. It is not avoidable, but it does mean plan-design savings compound slightly better in Ontario than in provinces without it — worth factoring when you compare a richer plan against a leaner one.
It depends on what you are trying to achieve. Public coverage for under-25s applies to those without a private plan, so enrolling dependants moves them onto yours. That can be the right call for recruitment and for coverage breadth beyond the public formulary — but it is a cost you should choose on purpose. We model both.
Employees in more than one province?
Multi-provincial groups are routine for us. Here is what changes everywhere else:
Send us your renewal. We will tell you the truth about it.
A 30-minute call and a look at your last statement is usually enough for us to say whether you are being well served in Ontario. If you are, we will say so.
An advisor reads it and replies personally — it does not go to a call centre.