The divide between plan sponsors’ and plan members’ views of their health benefits plans continues to grow, according to the 2026 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey.

Just 63 per cent of plan members rated their plan as excellent or good — the lowest share in six years — in comparison to 82 per cent of plan sponsors. And just half (52 per cent) of plan members said their plan meets their needs extremely or very well, a 10-year low.

During a panel discussing the results at Benefits Canada’s Toronto Benefits Summit on Sept. 25, Meghan Vallis (pictured centre), group sales vice-president for Western Canada at Equitable, suggested some of the disconnect could come down to plan member groups that may feel under-served by their plans, such as 18- to 34-year-olds, who make up about a third of respondents, and mid-career women.

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Across the board, plan members are also facing cost-of-living pressures, she noted, and aren’t seeing their benefits dollars go quite as far as before, while trying to tackle their health........

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