If you’ve never thought of work as something exciting, think again, because jobs in Canada have perks that will make you jump up and down like a kid about to receive a present.
Working in Canada has a few hidden perks that not many students know about as they are not common when you work part-time or in jobs like the ones we normally occupy while we study (cashier, sandwich artist, dishwasher, server, etc). The thing I’m talking about is called extended health benefits.
What Are Extended Health Benefits?
Extended health benefits are part of a compensation package that a company offers its employees and they are meant to complement the health benefits that you already receive from the province (universal health care). Think of these as extra money that your employer is giving you so you can spend on yourself.
These benefits will normally become active after you’ve gone through a three-month probation period at the company that hired you. However, there are some cases where they become active on your first day.
What It Includes
Since these plans can vary depending on what your employer wants to spend money on, let me give you an example instead of an explanation.
You just received your benefits after probation, congratulations! Here is the breakdown of the services and their respective limits you can access starting today:
HEALTH
Chiropractic Services | $500 |
Podiatric X-Rays | $500 |
Acupuncture | $500 |
Clinical Dietician | $600 |
Massage Therapist | $500 |
Naturopath | $500 |
Mental health practitioner | $600 |
VISION
Glasses/Contacts | $200 |
Eye exam | 1 per year |
DENTAL
Basic services | $1,800 |
All of this information is the amount of money allocated for each service. Therefore, if you started seeing a Counselor for psychological help tomorrow, you would have up to $600 that you can spend and get reimbursed by the insurance company NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
And before you ask me, yes, the massage therapist amount means you can go and get a massage for free until you reach $500. Now you know why Canadians are so chill 🙂.
4 Tips To Make Use Of Your Benefits
Your benefits normally go through a yearly cycle, which means, if you run out of money for a specific service, it will reset until the new year. Therefore, here are four tips to make you smarter when using your benefits.
Read all of the information in the booklet they send you. The insurance company or your employer will send you a booklet where there is a thorough description of everything included in your plan. Make sure you read it so you know all the different things that are included, but especially the ones that aren’t.
Call businesses to book. The reason we are saying this is because not all providers can claim benefits upfront. For example, some massage places can contact your insurance directly and ask them to pay for your massage so you don’t have to spend a cent. Therefore, the key is to call and ask: can you do direct billing to my insurance? If they say no, you have to look at your bank account and see if you have $90 to pay for the massage and then submit the receipt to the insurance so they pay you back.
Make sure the professional you are contacting is licensed. The insurance will only cover your expenses if you are going with people who have the license to prove that they are trained professionals. Therefore, you cannot go get acupuncture with your friend who learned it from TikTok and claim it.
Ask other people in your company how they use their benefits. By asking around, you will learn hacks that your coworkers have learned. These may include things like going to a Spa and being able to claim it or how to buy those new Ray-Bans that you have been eyeing for a while 😎.
Canada has a lot of benefits once you are established as a professional in the country. In the meantime, keep prioritizing your studies so you can get good grades and hopefully an easy path toward a job with extended health benefits!
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