Sun Life is the first major insurance company in Canada to offer coverage for expenses related to fertility treatment and surrogacy. It demonstrates our industry-leading approach to benefits that enhance diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) for Clients. 

About the program

The program has two parts.

  • Fertility Services benefit. Fertility treatments are expensive, often costing tens of thousands of dollars. Plan sponsors can add the Fertility Services benefit to existing Extended Health Care (EHC) benefits plans. Adding this provides coverage for eligible fertility treatment expenses incurred by a plan member.
  • Surrogacy benefit. Surrogacy rates in Canada have increased by 400% in the last 10 years.1 But costs are high. Surrogacy in Canada can cost as much as $90,000 for each pregnancy.2 We will repay the plan member for eligible expenses. This benefit will generally be a taxable benefit for your Client’s employees and we’ll administer this benefit under an Administrative Services Only (ASO) contract. To add the Surrogacy benefit agreement to a plan, the plan’s EHC coverage must already include Fertility Services.

Fertility Services can be added now. The Surrogacy benefit is coming soon. We are currently piloting this with several Clients. We expect to open this benefit to all organizations in Spring 2022.

Clients can set the benefit maximums to meet their organization’s needs. And you can play a valuable role in working with them to determine the most effective coverage amounts.

The need for DE&I benefits alignment

Many organizations are looking to expand their DE&I initiatives. Employees and employers both are gaining a greater understanding of its value. More than 60% of job candidates said they would decline a job offer at a company that didn’t value workplace diversity.3

Our Family Building program enhances DE&I. It does this by providing support to all plan members who need help growing their family, no matter their situation.

The Family Building program can also help your Clients:

  • attract and retain a more diverse employee base
  • make their employees feel supported and more productive.

Learn more

We’ve prepared an FAQ that provides more detail about the program’s structure. We’ve also prepared plan member and plan sponsor brochures outlining both components of the Family Building program.

Fertility
Surrogacy

We’ll send this Focus Update to plan sponsors.

Questions?

For more information, please contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative.

 

1https://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/features/surrogacy-in-canada-has-increased-400-in-10-years-more-facts

2https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/surrogacy-agencies-expenses-costs-oversight-canada-1.5476965 

3McKinsey, Diversity Wins: How inclusion matters, 2020