Changes to the University of Waterloo benefits plan
On February 2, 2021, the Board of Governors approved a range of changes to employee benefits. The changes are designed to improve the competitiveness of the University's extended health benefits plan against our comparator institutions. Changes will come into effect May 1, 2021.
The changes include:
- Medical plan improvements including the removal of the requirement for doctors’ notes for some paramedical services, the increase to the annual maximum for psychologist and emergency out-of-country coverage, expansion of practitioners within some paramedical categories, the addition of coverage for Continuous Glucose Monitors and in vitro fertilization
- Implementation of new prescription drug management programs: mandatory generic substitution requirement; Canada Life’s Health Case Management (HCM) and SMART program
The board accepted a recommendation from the Pension & Benefits Committee who recently hosted four public information sessions detailing the changes. Thank you to those who attended these sessions.
Our Human Resources team is now working with Canada Life to implement these changes. Extra information including a revised benefit booklet and plan changes on the HR webpage will follow. We will release a follow up communication with further details once available.
Questions?
You’ll be able to talk to Canada Life about these changes after May 1, 2021. In the meantime, we invite you to review the frequently asked questions.