Building from the ground up: Designing an employee benefits program that meets your organizational needs

June 19, 2025

Drew Maginn

In today’s job market, a well-designed employee benefits program can make a big difference when it comes to recruiting and retaining quality staff. When faced with the task of designing or redesigning your benefits program, however, it’s important to have a strong understanding of all your options. So if you’re contemplating whether to prioritize health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance or all of the above, consider these tips to make sure you’re making the right choices for your team.

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What is included in a standard employee benefits package?

As a starting point, all employers must provide certain benefits, as identified at the federal and provincial levels of government. These include:

Employment insurance;
Canada Pension Plan (or Quebec Pension Plan);
Worker’s compensation insurance;
Vacation benefits;
Maternity and parental leave; and
Sick leave.

In addition, there are some core components that are typically included across most organizations, regardless of your specific industry, although coverage levels do vary.

Health insurance: Covers prescription drugs, medical services (such as massage therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, speech therapy) and medical supplies (such as canes, breathing apparatuses, orthotics). These benefits typically support employees to manage healthcare costs above and beyond what’s covered in provincial health plans.
Dental insurance: Covers routine exams, cleaning, fillings and potentially more involved dental work such as orthodontics or periodontics. These costs can be substantial, whether as part of individual or family plans, and are typically highly valued by employees.
Vision insurance: Covers eye exams, prescription glasses and contact lenses.
Life insurance: In the event of death, this provides financial protection to an employees’ beneficiaries and can offer peace of mind to employees.
Disability insurance: Covers short-term and long-term disability to provide income to employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury for a limited, or extended, period of time.
Retirement plans: To encourage saving for the future, these plans include group Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) or contribution pension plans.
Paid time off: In addition to vacation days and sick leave, this may include personal or flex days to support employee wellness.

” Choosing the right mix of these benefits can help to differentiate your organization from others while also promoting the type of organizational culture you want to model ”

What additional or emerging benefits could add value to your job benefits package?

Once you’ve established your core program, there are a number of additional benefits to consider. Choosing the right mix of these benefits can help to differentiate your organization from others while also promoting the type of organizational culture you want to model. These benefits include:

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 58 per cent of Canadians report “overload” associated with the different roles in their life, including work, home, family and friends. To offer additional support, many organizations offer EAPs to provide confidential mental health support and counselling for employees facing personal or work-related challenges. These programs can include access to counsellors, social workers and other specialists.
Employee wellness programs: Wellness programs support various aspects of employee well-being, including physical activity, health eating and stress management. These programs may provide access to specific types of services or offer flexibility for employees to access a personal wellness spending account to apply to their specific needs.
Tuition, professional development and designations: Employee growth and development can be prioritized by offering financial support for things like tuition for continuing education, professional development opportunities and maintaining professional designations, including annual fees and membership to organizations like the National Payroll Institute.
- Flexible work arrangements: With many organizations returning to hybrid or fully in-person arrangements, offering flexibility for where and when employees work can become a strong driver of employee job satisfaction and morale.
Commuter benefits: If flexible work arrangements are not possible for your specific organization, you may consider offering commuter benefits, such as transit subsidies, parking reimbursements or active transportation incentives.

Tips for designing a competitive benefits package

Building an attractive benefits package that effectively integrates legislated, core and additional benefits can be overwhelming. However, this task can feel a little less daunting by keeping some core design principles top of mind throughout the process.

Understand your demographics and preferences: Your benefits package is most effective when it meets the needs of your workforce. Distributing employee surveys, conducting focus groups and analyzing usage can show you what is most valued and what might need to be re-assessed. For example, a workforce comprised of employees without dependents might be more interested in personal wellness programs, while others with dependents might value flexible work arrangements to care for their parents or robust dental plans to pay for their children’s braces.

Choose benefits that reflect your culture: Sometimes an organization selects certain benefits without necessarily understanding whether they reflect their specific organizational culture. For example, organizations may be criticized for offering flexible hours or wellness benefits if employees are working long hours and rarely access these perks of the job.

Plan for sustainability: While all organizations want to offer a competitive benefits package, they still need to balance their choices against their financial realities. Larger organizations might be able to negotiate better rates for certain benefits based on the sheer size of their workforce, while smaller organizations might need to opt for benefits that are less cost prohibitive like flexible work arrangements or added vacation time.

While there is no magic formula for developing the perfect benefits package, all organizations can try to follow a thoughtful process that will put them in the best position to succeed. Much like your workforce, your benefits package will inevitably evolve over time. However, with a little patience and commitment to staying connected to your employees, you can position yoursas a reason why talented individuals join and remain with your organization.

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