Alberta Group Benefits Insurance

Protect the health and wellbeing of your employees with group benefits

The wellness of your staff is essential to your business. That’s why Acera Benefits provides businesses in Alberta, and across Canada, with customized solutions to ensure you have the financial support needed to:

• maintain a healthy and productive workforce;
• support staff with getting back to good health should they fall ill or suffer a disability; and
• keep your business up and running after the passing of a key senior leader.

As specialists in the life and benefits industry, Acera Insurance can find all Albertans and businesses the best coverage and rates, no matter your needs.

Life and group benefits plans protect what is most important to you and your business.

What are group benefits?

As the name suggests, group benefits provide coverage to a group of people. The plan is managed and offered by a business to support the health and wellbeing of its employees and their families. Plans typically include some combination of health, dental, prescription drugs, life, critical illness and disability insurance.

Alberta businesses tend to offer comprehensive group benefits as part of their competitive compensation package to attract and retain talented employees. Plus, group benefits help employers maintain a healthy and productive workforce.

Because these plans are purchased for a group of people, they usually tend to be more affordable for the individual than if they were to purchase a personal policy. Furthermore, coverage in a group plan tends to be broader or more robust than a personal policy.

Our team offers employers the maximum return on the dollars invested in their employee benefit program by:

• providing benefits tailored to fit the needs of the employer and employees.
• integrating benefits with government programs where appropriate.
• providing benefits which are tax effective.
• communicating the value of the benefit program to employees (meetings, booklets).
• providing fast and efficient service.

Our group insurance solutions include:

Alberta employee group benefits

Employee group benefits plans support businesses in helping their staff cover health and wellness expenses, such as coverage for prescription drugs and dental care. Some employers also like to include financial plans—such as a group RRSP or TFSA—to help their staff with savings or retirement planning.

Alberta group life insurance

Group life insurance provides employees with the peace of mind that comes with knowing their loved ones will receive financial support in the event of their death. Unlike individual life insurance, your business will manage a group life insurance policy on behalf of its eligible employees as well as determine the death benefit amount each employee will receive (typically one to two times an annual salary, up to a maximum amount).

Alberta group critical illness insurance

Group critical illness insurance provides a financial cushion for an individual after they suffer from a life-threatening illness— cancer, heart attack, stroke and more. Again, the group policy is managed by an employer.

Alberta group disability insurance

Group disability insurance provides financial support to an employee who suffers a physical injury or mental illness and is unable to work for a period of time. This too is managed by a business on behalf of its employees.

Succession planning guidance for Albertans

Corporate pension augmentation

The advantage of tax-sheltered growth within a universal or whole life plan allows corporations to structure pension augmentation for executives. By over funding the insurance requirements the cash value will accrue tax-deferred until retirement, at which time withdrawals can be made or leveraging can be implemented

Leveraging strategies

Cash values from a universal or whole life plan can be assigned to a bank, which in turn provides a line of credit to use for retirement income. The advantages to these arrangements are that cash values within the plans continue to accrue without taxation. As well, individuals can access their line of credit without having to pay personal income tax. In corporate arrangements the income is taxable to the retired shareholder. In both cases, if structured properly, the interest paid on the line of credit may be tax deductible.

Fair versus equal

In succession planning the question of fair versus equal comes up in a large number of situations. If an owner/shareholder leaves a business asset or a company to one child; what is a fair treatment for non-participating children? Death benefits from a life insurance plan can be used to provide a fair equalization solution. The amounts can be selected by the owner/shareholder, which would alleviate the added pressure, complications and financial burden to his or her successor.

Alberta Group Benefits FAQs