Group benefits
Group benefits are an employer-sponsored plan of health, dental, life and disability coverage for employees, bought as one policy for the whole group.
Also called: group insurance, employee benefits plan, health and dental benefits, group health plan
What group benefits means
Group benefits are a package of insurance and health coverage that an employer arranges for its employees. A typical plan can include prescription drugs, dental care, extended health (such as physiotherapy, massage therapy, vision care and travel medical), life insurance, and short-term and long-term disability. Some plans add a health spending account or an employee assistance program.
The employer buys one policy for the group, usually through an insurer or a benefits advisor, and decides who is eligible, what is covered and how the cost is shared. Employers can pay all of the premiums or split them with employees.
No employment standards law requires a small private employer to offer group benefits. Many do because it helps them hire and keep staff. Once you offer a plan, though, your contract, the policy terms and some employment standards rules shape what you must do.
How it works
Choose the design. Decide who is eligible (for example, full-time staff working a set number of hours), how long new hires wait before coverage starts, which benefits to include, and the cost split. Your insurer will have minimum participation rules for small groups. Put the eligibility rules in writing and in offer letters.
Enrol people on time. Late enrolment can mean an employee needs to give medical evidence to join, or is refused some coverage. Add benefits enrolment to your onboarding checklist with the date it is due.
Handle leaves carefully. Employment standards laws in several provinces say what happens to benefits during a statutory leave. In Ontario, for example, employees on reservist leave do not automatically keep their benefit plan participation the way employees on most other leaves do. Check your province's rules and your policy before an employee starts a long leave, and write down who will pay premiums.
Plan for endings. When employment ends, the policy will say how long coverage lasts and whether the employee can convert life or health coverage to a personal plan. Check whether your province requires benefits to continue during any notice period, and get advice before changing or cutting benefits for someone leaving.
Common mistakes: missing enrolment deadlines, cancelling coverage for someone on leave, and promising coverage that is not in the policy.
Is it the same in every province?
Group benefits are private plans, so the idea is the same across Canada. Provincial employment standards laws differ on what happens to benefits during leave and when employment ends, and some provinces have their own rules that affect plan design, so check yours and ask your insurer.
Example: Starting a first plan at a Guelph brewery
Sean runs a 12-person craft brewery in Guelph, Ontario, and is losing brewers to larger competitors with benefits. He meets a benefits advisor and chooses a plan with drugs, dental, extended health and life insurance for staff working 30 hours or more, with a 3-month waiting period. He will pay 70% of premiums and employees 30%.
Sean adds the plan to every offer letter and puts "benefits enrolment due" at the 3-month mark on each new hire's onboarding checklist. When a brewer later goes on parental leave, he checks Ontario's rules and the policy before the leave starts and confirms in writing how premiums will be handled.
Onboarding checklists in Staffkin
Staffkin's onboarding checklists let you add steps like benefits enrolment to each new hire's list, so the due date is not missed.
Start freeFree tools and guides for this
Questions about group benefits
Do small businesses have to offer group benefits in Canada?
No. Employment standards laws do not require private employers to offer group benefits, but many do to attract and keep staff.
Do benefits continue while an employee is on leave?
It depends on your province's rules, the type of leave and your policy. Check before the leave starts and write down who pays premiums.
Can employees share the cost of group benefits?
Yes. Many employers split premiums with employees. State the split clearly in the offer letter and plan summary.
Related terms
Official sources
General information for Canadian employers, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time, so check with your provincial employment standards office (or the federal Labour Program if you are federally regulated) before you rely on it. See employment standards by province.
Checked against official sources on 4 November 2026.