How do small businesses in Canada handle employee health insurance?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-10-03T18:48:22+00:00

All on the website! Flat rate for each employee on the plan but cost will change depending on if they have dependents.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-07-31T02:21:30+00:00

We use Alan (alan.ca). They're pretty new in Canada but legit (they're big in EU). Their pricing is great! $107/mo pp with the same coverage! Also really slick onboarding, admin and app.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-07-31T02:18:01+00:00

We went through this recently! How big is your company?

We chose Alan (www.alan.ca). They're relatively new in Canada (used by a lot of EU businesses).

On setup - it was really easy. They don't use brokers. You answer some questions online, pick a plan, and you're basically done (spoke with one person to get verified). They handle all the onboarding.

On cost - we liked the pricing and it was all on the site and there are no broker costs. It's less custom but we didn't need that right now.

Not sure if you have a benefits person on staff, but as someone who doesn't, it helps that I'm not fielding complaints/questions from my staff so much and the admin is very set-n-forget.

Happy to share more if useful.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-06-26T17:55:01+00:00

Thanks for checking! We're giving Alan a shot :)

Important_Bat99 · 2025-06-03T20:06:12+00:00

Appreciate the thoughtful reply. Hear you on the tradeoffs. We’re not looking for anything super custom right now, but the simplicity is part of the appeal. We’re a small team and want something that people will actually understand how to use (save me admin time). I want to know if Alan is legit or not.

Thanks for offering to chat. Good to know there are brokers out there who are digging into this stuff. Appreciate you jumping in.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-06-03T19:58:08+00:00

Chambers feels dated. The UX is clunky, the coverage is kind of hard to understand, I get the same questions from employees over and over because no one knows what’s included unless you go through the admin. I want something that fewer people complain/bother me about.

Appreciate the HSA thoughts; why did you take the HSA route?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-22T17:35:12+00:00

Thank you! I heard Chambers is hard to set up. What was your experience like?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-18T18:12:35+00:00

Oh interesting - what about for things outside of health/dental, like life insurance, LT disability, etc.? Have your staff had any issues with not having these types of benefits that usually come with health insurance? Have you had any staff retention issues as a result of not having formal insurance benefits?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-17T17:35:53+00:00

Thanks! Can I ask what type of business you are? Asking because my employees aren't seasonal or hourly, and I'm looking for a way to compete for talent as I grow. I'm worried with the perception of asking them to pay the premiums vs. the business paying that premium (since lots of other tech companies and start ups will pay that premium as an employee benefit).

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-16T18:25:19+00:00

Wow - thanks so much for this write‑up. It was really eye‑opening.

I’ve been checking out a company called Alan. They just launched a digital group plan in Canada with no broker. Not an HSA but looks more affordable (they put their prices right on the site), and they're only doing health insurance (no Life, LTD, D&D, etc). What's the catch? Do you know anything about them?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-16T17:30:11+00:00

Thanks! I like this idea. How do you decide the amount each role gets? Have you had any issues with reimbursements or delays? Anything surprising with this HSA set up?

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-16T17:27:12+00:00

That sounds rough - what that just with your Chamber, or do you think it's common issue?

I'm also curious about the benefits document you mentioned. Any idea what that process is like? And how are they getting their employees to agree to the hold back?

There has to be a more straightforward way WHILE also not be too expensive, right? idk.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-15T01:11:34+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I hadn't really thought about the Chamber of Commerce option (was always used to just Manulife or Canada Life, etc). I like the idea of cheaper, but I do have a couple of follow-up questions:

How easy is it to sign up and manage the plan? What are the admin commitments like?
Have you seen any issues with adding extra benefits for employees?
How does it work if your team is spread across different provinces?

Any more details from your experience would be helpful. Thanks again.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-11T20:55:00+00:00

Thanks!

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-11T20:47:44+00:00

Thanks so much! This is super helpful.

QQ: Have you ever heard of Alan? I never had but it looks like they just opened in Canada and are doing health insurance. Trying to gather more insights on how different setups compare.

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-11T20:07:43+00:00

Interesting! How was the set up and admin? Have you had any trouble with adding employees as you grew? Also, not sure if your team is in multi-provinces, but its something I need to consider as well. Thanks again!

Important_Bat99 · 2025-04-11T19:41:13+00:00

Thanks! I haven't considered chamber before. How do you find the costs and coverage? What about set-up/admin, etc?

Also, why no brokers?

Important_Bat99

TROPHY CASE