At S&C Electrical Canada Ltd., a holistic, access-driven approach to women’s health is anchored in integrated support through its partnership with its insurer.

Faced with rising costs driven by mental-health utilization, chronic conditions and specialty drugs, S&C has focused on balancing sustainability with access through tiered plan design, clinical oversight and early intervention via virtual care, says Francesca Lippa, the company’s global benefits director.

Working closely with its insurer in a data-driven, collaborative model, the organization emphasizes guiding employees to the right care at the right time to improve outcomes and manage costs. This includes its approach to GLP-1 therapies, she says, noting the use of mandatory generic substitution and prior authorization. “They work in concert with each other. That’s a very important lever we can pull.”

Read: 2025 Toronto Benefits Summit: Greater flexibility in benefits plans would better support women’s health

Menopause by the numbers

• Roughly 50% of Canadian women said they reduced their work hours, moved to part-time work or chose not to pursue promotions because of unmanaged menopause symptoms, while 10% have left the workforce.

• 33% said symptoms such as fatigue, hot flashes and brain fog affected their work performance.

• These disruptions add up to an average annual loss of 540,000 workdays, costing employers $237 million in productivity.

Source: iA Financial Group report, 2025

According to the 2025 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey, women were more likely (64 per cent) than men (53 per cent) to have a chronic condition. However, there’s evidence of a gap between what women expect of their employer’s benefits plan and what’s actually available to them. A 2026 survey by Benchmark Benefits Solutions Inc. found 40 per cent of Canadian women with an employer-sponsored benefits plan said they’re not satisfied with their current benefits package, while nearly half (47 per cent) said they’ve delayed or avoided health care because they didn’t have access to adequate benefits and roughly one in 10 said they’ve left a job due to inadequate workplace benefits.

In recent years, plan sponsors have increasingly focused on menopause and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in women as societal awareness around these conditions continues to grow, says Tara Anstey, director of business development and client value at Medavie Blue Cross.

“With ADHD, some of the presentation of the condition that people would have been more familiar with is in terms of how it manifests in boys. It’s very different with women and with girls — so often, it’s more about their inattention. Girls are less likely historically to have been diagnosed, but now there is greater awareness in terms of social media. We have also been doing our own efforts as a carrier to bridge some of the access-to-care issues around getting those assessments.”

Read: Majority of Canadian women aged 35 to 55 say menopause symptoms impact work: survey

According to a 2026 survey by GreenShield, two-thirds (64 per cent) of Canadian women aged 35 to 55 said menopause symptoms affect their job........

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