New to CB Benefits?
All you need to know about enrollment
MY HEALTH & WELLBEING

Your benefits plan gives you the opportunity to choose personalized coverage that meets your specific needs and preferences. You can also update your benefits selections at regular re-enrollment periods (every two years) so that your coverage continues to meet your changing needs and circumstances.

All plan members have core coverage for long-term disability (LTD), accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Best Doctors. You also have three different health and dental options (Green Leaf, Orange Leaf and Blue Leaf), with different degrees of flexibility and coverage levels to allow you to match your benefits needs. You can take advantage of several optional benefits; the choices are yours to make! Need help selecting? Click Here

PLAN ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT

You will become eligible for coverage depending on your employment status:

  • Executive staff and pastors: from date of hire
  • All other employees: on the 1st of the month following 90 days of employment
    • Staff from Atlantic Canada can access their benefit program here

There are four steps to enroll in the plan:

  1. Review the program information. If you have a spouse who participates in a group or employer benefit plan, take the time to review any coverage you have under that plan. You’ll need to consider how both plans work together to provide coverage, and where best to purchase any optional coverage.
  2. Make your selections. To do that, you will need to complete an Election Form.
  3. Complete your beneficiary designation(s).If you do not name a beneficiary (or there is no surviving beneficiary at the time of your death), then payment will be made to your estate, which may result in delays or additional legal fees.
  4. Return your paperwork. Please return your Election and Designation of Beneficiary forms as indicated below:

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR BENEFITS

Choosing the right benefit plan can be tough. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration, such as your medical and financial needs, family status, and the anticipated healthcare needs for you and your dependents. It’s important to take the time to assess your current situation and the options available to you in order to determine the coverage you need – and avoid the coverage you don’t.

Here is an overview of the plan choices available to you:

  Green Leaf Orange Leaf Blue Leaf
  Maximum flexibility Some flexibility Enhanced coverage with employee cost-sharing
Suitable for….
  • Couples/families covered under two plans (e.g., a spouse’s plan)
  • Members who want more flexibility to align with their healthcare needs
  • Members with no other coverage or couples/ families covered under two plans (e.g., a spouse’s plan)
  • Single-income families
  • Members who require less flexibility and more traditional coverage
  • Members with known healthcare needs
  • Members with no additional coverage
  • Those who are willing to pay for an enhanced plan
Plan highlights
  • Highest annual healthcare spending account (HCSA) deposit (which can be used to claim a wide range of services and procedures, including those not covered or not fully covered under the plan)
  • More flexibility in how you spend your benefits dollars
  • Annual deposit into HCSA (lower than Green Leaf)
  • HCSA can be used to claim services and procedures not covered or not fully covered under the plan
  • Provides a balance between the flexibility of Green Leaf and more extensive coverage of Blue Leaf, with no additional cost to the member
  • Employee Basic life insurance at 2 x salary
  • High reimbursement for drug coverage
  • Low annual out-of-pocket maximum (per person)
Quick facts
  • Reimburses 70% of eligible drug expenses
  • Provides basic paramedical coverage
  • Most generous HCSA to pay for excluded medical expenses
  • Reimburses 80% of eligible drug expenses
  • Coverage for majority of paramedical expenses, including unlimited physiotherapist coverage
  • Basic dental care coverage only; excludes major restorative services and orthodontia
  • Reimburses 90% of eligible drug expenses
  • Reimburses 100% of paramedical expenses up to maximum limit per applicable service (with no exclusions from the list)
  • Dental care coverage includes basic and major restorative services, and orthodontia
  • No HCSA

CHOOSING OPTIONAL BENEFITS

The optional benefits available are designed to offer you and your family extra financial protection if you suffer a serious injury because of an accident or are diagnosed with a critical illness, or in the event of your death or the death of a family member.

You can choose to purchase:

  • Optional Life
    • Member
    • Spouse
    • Child
  • Optional AD&D
    • Member
    • Family
  • Optional Critical Illness

Here is an overview of your options:

  Who is covered How it’s purchased Maximum benefit
Optional Life Member Units of $10,000 $50,000
Spouse Units of $10,000 $50,000
Child Units of $2,000 $20,000
Optional AD&D Member Units of $10,000 $250,000
Spouse (if you have children): 40% of your amount
Spouse (if you don’t have children): 50% of your amount
Each child (if you have a spouse): 10% of your amount
Each child (if you don’t have a spouse): 15% of your amount 		Same as above Same as above
Optional CI Member Units of $5,000 $150,000
Spouse Units of $5,000 $150,000

For any amount of life insurance you purchase for yourself or your spouse, you will be required to submit proof of good health (also called Evidence of Insurability) before the coverage will be approved. EOI is not required for child life insurance.

For more information on your benefits, visit www.greatwestlife.com.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HCSA

If you choose the Green Leaf or Orange Leaf option, you will also have access to a Healthcare Spending Account (HCSA) to supplement your existing benefits coverage. An HCSA is like a bank account: your employer deposits money into your HCSA, which you can spend on eligible health and dental expenses that qualify under the Income Tax Act (ITA). You can use those funds to cover health and/or dental expenses that aren’t covered under your plan, or to top up expenses that aren’t fully covered (e.g., deductibles and co-payments). That’s where the flexibility comes in: you’re in control of your HCSA.

If you don’t use all your funds at the end of the plan year, those funds will be rolled over to your account, and you can use them to cover expenses incurred in the next plan year. If those funds aren’t used by the end of Year 2, they will be forfeited.

The money in your HCSA is pre-tax, so it goes a lot further. For Quebec residents, it’s a taxable benefit like your regular health benefits.

For more information on your benefits, visit www.greatwestlife.com.

Important note: This information applies only to active employees of CBM Office Staff, CBOQ, CBWC and FBU. For information on the benefits plan for employees of Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC), refer to http://baptist-atlantic.ca/.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

For information on benefits coverage or claims:

Great-West Life
Medical and Dental: 1-800-957-9777
Health Care Spending Account: 1-877-883-7072
www.greatwestlife.com

For information on plan enrollment, life events (e.g., adding a dependent) or replacement drug cards:

J&D Benefits (CBWC and CBOQ Members only)
Linda Bissonnette
lbissonnette@jdbenefits.com
1-800-218-7018 or 905-477-7088 (x2222)

For general inquiries, email info@cbbenefits.ca.

MY RETIREMENT & SAVINGS

The Canadian Baptist Pension Plan (CBPP) is an important and valuable part of your compensation, and a key tool to help you secure your financial future.

Our plan is a Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan. This means the contributions are fixed, but the benefits at retirement will vary based on the performance of your investments and your account balance at retirement. Both your contributions and your employer’s are immediately vested, meaning they belong to you from Day 1.

Being a CBPP member comes with some important benefits:

Employer matching – Your basic contribution to the CBPP is 6% of your earnings. When you contribute 6%, your employer will match those contributions, automatically doubling your plan investment. You can also make voluntary contributions, by payroll deduction, in any amount you choose. Making regular CBPP contributions via payroll deduction is a convenient and easy way to save for the future. You can also transfer pension money from a previous employer or an RRSP into your Canadian Baptist pension account, if the other employer’s plan allows this.

Lower fees – Because the CBPP has a large pool of assets, the fund management fees you pay as a plan member are 0.62% – much less than the 2.00% to 2.50% you’d typically pay in the retail market. Lower fees means more money stays in your account – which, over time, can have a significant impact on your retirement income.

Special access to funds and professional management – The funds within the CBPP were designed exclusively for your plan – in fact, most of them aren’t even marketed to the general public. As a CBPP member, you also benefit from the experience and expertise of some of Canada’s leading investment managers.

For more information on your benefits, refer to the plan booklet at www.mysunlife.ca.

PLAN ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT

Membership in the CBPP is voluntary. Ministry Leaders such as pastors, professors, executive and management staff are eligible to join the plan from their date of employment.

Support Staff (such as church administrators, secretarial, clerical and custodial staff) are eligible to join after one year of continuous employment, or earlier if the employer agrees and legislation permits.

You can join the plan at any time after becoming eligible for membership. Once you have joined, you can’t terminate your membership and remove your funds while you are employed by a participating employer.

For more information watch the video

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR INVESTMENTS

You choose how to invest your contributions and those made by your employer. You have four investment portfolios to choose from: Conservative, Moderate, Balanced, and Aggressive. It’s important to choose funds that match your risk tolerance and your time horizon to retirement.

To help you determine what investment portfolio is right for you, use Sun Life’s risk profiler tool, available at www.mysunlife.ca. You may also wish to seek professional investment advice before making your selections.

UNDERSTANDING THE TFSA

In addition to your DC pension plan, you also have access to a tax-free savings account (TFSA). With a TFSA, you can save up to $5,500 every year and watch it grow tax-free!

Some of the key benefits of a TFSA include:

Flexibility – You can make regular or lump sum contributions at any time during the year.

Tax advantages – Your contributions will grow tax-free, and you can withdraw them whenever you want without paying tax.

Carry forward – You can carry forward unused contribution room every year. If you make a withdrawal, that amount will be added to your contribution room for the next year.

No age limits – There’s no age limit for contributing, and you aren’t required to start drawing retirement income from your TFSA at age 71.

To open a TFSA account and start contributing, log into www.mysunlife.ca and complete the online enrollment process. You may also send cheques to Sun Life directly – visit www.mysunlife.ca for details.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

To view your investments, see your account balance, or access retirement planning resources and tools, contact Sun Life:
www.mysunlife.ca
1-866-733-8613

Are you preparing for Retirement?

Contact Sunlife’s dedicated retirement consultants for our plan at 1-866-224-3906 (Option 1). Make sure you ask about CBM’s retirement options built specifically for our plan!

For our READY TO RETIRE program, email retire@cbbenefits.ca.

For general inquiries, email info@cbbenefits.ca.