Immix Group Benefits Insight Taxation of Benefits By Lindsay Byrka B.A., B.Ed, CFP | Vice President When an Employer “doing the right thing” backfires In our initial discovery meeting with a new client, we learned of a situation that had them re-examining their entire benefits offering, seeking a second opinion.
Immix Insights • April 2026 Why Dental Benefits Keep Getting More Expensive and What Employers Should Know Dental coverage remains one of the most valued parts of an employee benefits plan, but it is also one of the areas where employers continue to see cost increases. Written by Howard Cheung
Employee Benefits Fraud in Canada: Awareness, Impact & Prevention Lindsay Byrka, CFP® is Vice President at the Immix Group. She partners with employers to source and manage group life and health plans, and group savings and retirement plans, working with Canada’s leading insurers to support transparent pricing and flexible plan
Group Savings Plans: A More Tax-Efficient Way to Pay Employees Lindsay Byrka, CFP® is Vice President at the Immix Group. She partners with employers to source and manage group life and health plans, and group savings and retirement plans, working with Canada’s leading insurers to support transparent pricing and flexible plan
Key Conversations in Employee Benefits Lindsay Byrka, CFP® is Vice President at the Immix Group. She partners with employers to source and manage group life and health plans, and group savings and retirement plans, working with Canada’s leading insurers to support transparent pricing and flexible plan design.LinkedIn As we kick
Weight Management as a Benefits Priority: What Canadian Employers Need to Know By Lindsay Byrka, CFP®, Vice President, Immix Group About the author Lindsay Byrka, CFP® Vice President, Immix Group LinkedIn profile Obesity in Canada: A Rising Concern for Employers Excess weight and obesity now affect roughly one in three
Top 5 Questions from Employers When Considering a Group Savings Plan by Lindsay Byrka, CFP® Vice President, Immix Group November is Financial Literacy Month in Canada, and the theme this year is “Talk Money.” The idea is “talking about money with others can provide opportunities to learn new tips and resources, which can
by Lindsay Byrka, CFP® Vice President, Immix Group Part of our role as benefits advisors in Canada is advising employers on their responsibilities when it comes to the ongoing management of their benefits program–enrolment, terminations, updates, communication to employees, taxation of benefits and rules for benefits under the Employment Standards Act here in
At the Immix Group, every government announcement on healthcare changes sparks the same question from plan sponsors: “Will this shift claims away from our group benefits plan and reduce claim costs?” by Lindsay Byrka, CFP® Vice President, Immix Group Canada is known for universal healthcare, but each province and territory
by Lindsay Byrka, CFP® Vice President, Immix Group When we first begin working with a new employer to review their benefits offering, it involves a bit of detective work. We need to uncover why you’re not fully satisfied with your benefits program, and why you’ve come to us for a
A Better Way to Do Benefits: Independent, Canadian, and Client-First As an independent, Canadian-owned firm, we’re free to build custom benefits solutions based solely on what’s right for your business. by Lindsay Byrka | B.A., B.Ed, CFP® | Vice President The Immix Group Employee Benefits is Canadian and Independent One thing that sets
Learn the four essential coverages every freelancer, consultant, and contractor in Canada should know — and how to get protected fast. by Lindsay Byrka | B.A., B.Ed, CFP® | Vice President If you’re self-employed in Canada, you may be one illness, dental emergency, or unexpected injury away from a serious financial setback. Without
by Lindsay Byrka | B.A., B.Ed, CFP | Vice President Mental Health Awareness Week in Canada takes place the first full week of May. This year’s theme—Unmasking Mental Health— is a reminder that behind every desk are real people with real challenges, struggles, and emotions—often not visible or obvious to those around
by Lindsay Byrka | B.A., B.Ed, CFP | Vice President If you’re a Canadian business owner looking to offer flexible, tax-effective coverage that empowers your team, an HSA could be the missing piece of your benefits offering. In this guide, we’ll break down what an HSA is, how it works, and why
The Workplace Has Changed—Have Your Benefits? by Lindsay Byrka, CFP® March 8th is International Women’s Day, described as a day to “recognize and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and girls.” This year’s theme is “Accelerate Action.” With this in mind, we wanted to highlight how
It’s RRSP season in the world of benefits and financial services because as most of you know, the RRSP deadline is coming up! As a reminder, contributions to RRSPs made in the first 60 days of the year can be applied to the previous year. In plain language, Canadians can
Key Conversations in Benefits 2024 Once again, this year, we have compiled the top conversations in benefits, from our perspective as benefits advisors. These are the topics we heard about the most in the news, from our supplier partners, and that members of our Client Community inquired about most often.
A Guide to Immix Insights Articles Are you wondering what we’ve been writing about? Perhaps you haven’t had time to read the articles, but you’re hoping to gain some information on a particular topic. At the Immix Group, we strive to provide articles spanning a range of topics that are
By: The Immix Group in partnership with Ciccone McKay Financial Group November marks Financial Literacy Month in Canada, and this year’s theme, “Money on Your Mind. Talk About It!”, focuses on encouraging open conversations about personal finances. This month, we want to highlight how employers can support their employees’ financial
When selecting a benefits provider, ensuring the right match for your organization is essential. When it comes to the benefits offering, as we’ve spoken about before, ‘one size fits all’ is not an ideal approach to take. Different insurance carriers have various strengths and weaknesses. But what is the right
Expanding into Canada? What Non-Canadian entities need to know when implementing an Employee Benefit program in Canada Key Takeaways A typical employee benefits plan in Canada includes life insurance, extended health care, dental care, and often additional offerings like disability insurance, health spending accounts and retirement savings plans. The healthcare
A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding Your Options and Implementing an Individual Health and Dental Plan for You and Your Family By Lindsay Byrka, BA, BEd, CFP® Are you leaving your job, retiring, self-employed or just don’t have a benefits plan at your job? Have a plan, but there isn’t enough
by Lindsay Byrka, BA, BEd, CFP® Dig Deeper into Disability Insurance Trying to wrap your head around Long-Term Disability insurance? Wondering about the differences between your group Long Term Disability and an Individual Disability plan? Group benefits plan administrators, have you done your part to ensure your employees understand
How employers can support employee well-being within an employee benefits program As defined by the Canadian government: mental health refers to one’s general state of psychological and emotional well-being. We acknowledge this is a complex and nuanced topic, and that an employer’s role in supporting positive well-being extends far beyond
Claim Confusion: Common Reasons Why Your Benefits Claim May Leave You “Out-of-Pocket” Uncovering why you may be left ‘out-of-pocket’ when claiming under your benefits program Wondering why you’re left ‘out-of-pocket’ despite having a robust benefits program? There is nothing more frustrating than submitting your claim, only to find it’s not
Understanding Travel Insurance: Everything You Need to Know Before Takeoff When we talk to groups of employees about their benefits coverage, one thing that pops up time after time is that employees are often unaware that their extended health care includes travel insurance! Far too many employees have told us
We write often about Group Savings Plans, as it’s our belief that one of the best ways employers can assist their employees is by offering them the opportunity to plan and save for the future. This is a sentiment that is echoed by many in our industry. In their recent
Last year our blog “Top Conversations of 2022” proved to be among our most popular articles for the year! Once again, this year, we have compiled a recap of the Top Conversations in Benefits, from our perspective as benefits advisors. Last year we recapped the top conversations in benefits, which
Understanding Cost-Sharing in Employee Benefits: The Employer’s Role in Premium Contributions and Standard Practices Introduction In the fiercely competitive job market, employee benefits play a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent. Among the many decisions that employers face in crafting an appealing benefits package, one of the
A Proven Strategy for Containing Employee Benefit Plan Costs With elevated inflation causing everyone to take a closer look at their expenses, we wanted to introduce (and remind those who are already members of the Immix Group Client Community!) the many advantages of our broker-managed pools. Table of Contents Back
Virtual Health Care is Everywhere: Employer vs. Free Options, and the latest in Offerings. Back in 2020, we wrote about virtual care offerings, at the time prompted by the pandemic and the lockdown we were experiencing, which made routine doctor visits close to impossible. While virtual care was available
It’s a wrap! As we begin the New Year with refreshed energy and excitement for what 2023 may bring, we wanted to share a recap of the key stories in benefits over 2022. Extreme Difficulty in Hiring The theme of our client meetings this year can be summed up
Pondering the question: “Why do my benefit plan costs keep going up?” We’ve got answers. If you’ve walked away from your renewal meeting scratching your head at the rate adjustment, you’re unfortunately not alone. Many advisors don’t do a great job explaining a rate change, and the math used by
Yes, it’s possible to gain the pricing advantage found within a benefits pool while also having control over your plan design! When we begin discussing the strategy that Immix has created when it comes to group benefit plans one of the first questions we are asked is whether belonging to
5 Key Areas to Check to Ensure your Benefits Quote is Actually for a Comparable Plan Inflation is on everyone’s mind; wherever you look, prices are rising. Unfortunately, benefit plans are not exempt from this. When the cost of dentist visits, medical items and procedures goes up, the result is
In the first part of this two-part article on the hybrid work model, we discussed remote work from a productivity perspective. For the most part, the numerous studies that are coming out are stating that productivity is either unaffected or increased, and this is especially true for knowledge workers. In
At the peak of the pandemic, estimates were that over 40% over people were working from home. As we transition out of the pandemic many are now embracing remote work in a new way, even when given the option to return to the workplace. But will it stay this way?
Group Savings Plan Are you having a hard time finding and keeping great people? Don’t overlook the power of enhancing your benefits offering with a simple yet effective retention tool: a company savings plan. We are hearing from clients and peers that hiring and keeping great people is more difficult
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFP Vice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company How can you assist your employees in achieving financial wellbeing? November is Financial Literacy Month in Canada, and one of the key themes for 2021 is the importance of building financial resilience in challenging times. When it comes
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company 1. How much does it cost to provide Employee Benefits? Cost is often first thing that comes to mind when considering employee benefits. How much to budget, per employee, and what does this cover? Without an existing benefits program or
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company You are a small or mid-size business. You want affordable employee benefits with costs that you partially control – while having peace of mind that you can provide for unexpected health/drug claims. Read on! This article might just be
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company Due to the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020, many insurers provided benefits premium subsidies, or even deferred the program renewal date. In 2021, at least in insured benefit programs, renewals could look slightly different given the unique claims patterns we
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFP Vice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company Everyone has experienced that phone call, text or email making some claim that is inevitably aimed at getting you to click a link or provide information to give fraudsters access to your sensitive information. It’s rampant, and
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFP Vice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company 2020 proved to be an unexpectedly tumultuous year for most people, and if you’re involved in running or making decisions for a business, you were probably taking a hard look at every aspect of your business. If
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company It’s true. Your business can indeed get discounted group health insurance rates. If you’ve ever marketed your plan with alternative carriers, it’s more than likely you were surprised to see pricing of ten, twenty or even thirty percent below your
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFP Vice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company You’ve made the decision to implement a group savings plan for your team. You’ve worked it into the budget, and you know this is something you want to roll out sooner rather than later. Fantastic! But what’s
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company The year 2020 has certainly been a year of change. All aspects of life have adapted to a new normal, and this includes businesses and what it means to provide valuable benefits to employees. As business owners and managers of
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFPVice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company The major impact of small businesses in Canada: Small Business, Benefits and COVID19 At Immix, we have paid special attention to the especially precarious financial situation facing small businesses over the past 3 months. As employee benefits
By Lindsay Byrka | BA, BEd, CFP Vice President, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company If you are considering ‘taking your plan to market’ we want you to consider why our current climate is the time to join a benefits pool, transparently priced by a broker, rather than marketing direct with an
By Howard Cheung, Account Executive, Immix Group: An Employee Benefits Company As society navigates COVID19 and embraces the new norms of social distancing and virtual meetings, the way we access healthcare has possibly changed forever. While many virtual options have long been available, people are adopting these at an increased rate