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Special 5% rate for clients until Pivotal Select FHSA is available
Great news for clients saving for their first home! For a limited time, clients who intend on setting up a First Home Savings Account (FHSA) with Equitable Life® can deposit money to a Guaranteed Interest Account (GIA) now and enjoy a special rate of 5.00%.1
The special rate applies only if the client transfers the funds to an FHSA by December 28, 2023; otherwise, the standard Daily Interest Account (DIA) rate will be applied to those funds.
Here’s how to take advantage of this special rate:
For New Clients:- Complete an application for a non-registered GIA. On the application select “Daily Interest Account” as the investment instructions and write the amount to be deposited (minimum $500, maximum $8,000).
- In the Special Instructions section of the application, write “FHSA”.
- The GIA application form (799) can be found here
For Existing Clients - must have a GIA (Compound Interest Only) policy:- Submit a letter of direction or complete the Investment Direction form requesting to deposit funds to the DIA for the FHSA promotion (minimum $500, maximum $8,000)
- Complete sections 1, 3, 4, 12 and 13 of the Investment Direction form, and in the Special Instructions area, write “FHSA”.
- The Investment Direction form (693ANN) can be found here
The GDA will be a non-registered account and any interest earned will be taxable.
Once the Equitable Life FHSA is available:- Submit a Pivotal Select™ FHSA application, and request to transfer the funds from the GDA to the Pivotal Select policy.2 No Market Value Adjustment fees will be charged.
- In the Special Instructions section, indicate the source of funds to be “FHSA promotion funds” and provide instructions on where to direct any excess funds in the GIA if applicable.
- The funds will be transferred to the FHSA.3
- Any excess funds over $8,000 will be returned to the client as a direct deposit, a cheque, or the client can keep the GIA open.
This is a great opportunity for clients to start saving for their first home today while earning an excellent rate. The advisor receives a reduced upfront commission4 for the pre-FHSA deposit to the GDA, in addition to the commission that will be earned by moving the funds to the Pivotal Select FHSA.
This special savings rate promotion is available until the launch date of Equitable Life’s FHSA unless the promotion is ended on an earlier date at Equitable Life’s discretion. The maximum amount on which a client can receive the special savings rate is $8,000.
Clients who do not transfer funds to the FHSA on or before December 28, 2023 will not receive the promotional rate. We will transfer the funds from the special GDA to the DIA account effective as of the date of deposit. As a result, the interest received by the client from the date of deposit to December 28, 2023 will be the DIA rate rather than the promotional rate.
Questions? Please see our FAQ
For more information, please contact your Regional Investment Sales Manager. Additional details about the FHSA can be found on the Government of Canada’s website.
® denotes a trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada.
1 The pre-FHSA special saving rate of 5.00% per year compounds daily and takes effect from the date Equitable Life receives the deposit and will end on the date the FHSA Pivotal Select segregated fund product is launched later this year (December 28, 2023 at the latest). In the unlikely event Equitable Life’s Pivotal Select FHSA is unavailable in 2023, the funds subject to the promotion will earn the 5.00% rate for 1 year from the date of deposit through maturity in 2024.
2 The FHSA promotion will only be available as a Pivotal Select Segregated Fund policy. Clients can open a FHSA only if they meet the eligibility criteria when they sign the application.
3The funds in the Guaranteed Interest Account will be transferred to the FHSA in the form of a contribution of up to $8,000 on or after the date the client signs the FHSA application form. Clients must open a FHSA to receive the special bonus interest.
4 Commission of 0.20% paid upfront for money received and deposited to the policy by September 29, 2023. 0.05% paid upfront for money received and deposited after September 29, 2023, and the earlier of the promotion termination or December 28, 2023. Commissions are paid through an adjustment to our current 40bps commission on our one-year GDA by way of a chargeback reducing the commission to the rate stated in this note.
Posted June 1, 2023 -
Short-term disability coverage for plan members in quarantine or self-isolation*
Please note: This announcement applies only to groups with short-term disability coverage through Equitable Life
With the spread of COVID-19, many people have been instructed to self-isolate or quarantine themselves or are doing so voluntarily. We realize this is a stressful situation for people and they may be wondering if they are eligible for disability benefits. Short-term disability is designed to replace a plan member’s earnings if they are unable to work due to illness and injury. As a result, only plan members who meet the following criteria are eligible for benefits:
- Plan members who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are unable to work from home are eligible for coverage from Day 1 of their self-isolation period.
- Plan members who have not been tested but have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and are unable to work from home, are eligible for coverage. Claims will be assessed according to the terms of the plan.
Plan members who are in quarantine for any other reason, but do not have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, are not eligible for coverage. These plan members should consider applying for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, if they do not have an option to work from home.
Submitting COVID-19-related STD claims
To make things easier for plan members who need to submit claims related to COVID-19, we will not require a physician’s statement. Instead plan members should submit our simplified Short Term Disability Plan Member COVID-19 Claim Form.
Plan Administrators need to complete their portion of the regular Short Term Disability Form (Form #421).
This is a temporary process that will remain in effect through the current coronavirus situation. We will update on changes and share them on EquitableHealth.ca.
Applying for the Employment Insurance sickness benefit
Canadians quarantined due to COVID-19, who are not receiving Short Term Disability benefits, can apply for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits. The one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits has been waived. Service Canada’s dedicated toll-free support number is 1-833-381-2725 or (TTY) 1-800-529-3742.
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients
- Exchanges
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Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin – January 2022
Short-term disability coverage for plan members with COVID-19*
Please note: This announcement applies only to groups with short-term disability coverage through Equitable Life
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and the situation evolves, we continue to adjust our practices to ensure ongoing support for our plan members.
PCR tests no longer required for COVID-related STD claims
Some provinces have recently restricted access to COVID-19 PCR testing to only high-risk individuals. To ensure your clients' eligible plan members receive their short-term disability benefits in a timely manner, we no longer require a positive PCR test for plan members submitting COVID-19-related STD claims.
Plan members who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or who have tested positive for the virus (either with a PCR test or with an at-home rapid test) and are unable to work from home should complete the Short Term Disability Plan Member COVID-19 Claim Form (#421A).
They should indicate the date of the onset of symptoms or date of their positive test result. Where applicable, they should also indicate the date they have been cleared by public health to end their self-isolation. The form includes an attestation that the information they have provided is accurate.
The employer needs to complete the Short Term Disability Employer COVID-19 Claim Form (#421B). They should indicate the expected return-to-work date according to their provincial health guidelines, or using the date provided by a public health official.
Waiting periods for COVID-related STD claims
To support your clients' plan members during the initial stages of the pandemic, we waived the STD waiting period if a plan member’s absence was due to symptoms or a diagnosis of COVID-19. Now that COVID-19 has become the “new normal,” we are returning to our standard practices and treating the virus as we would any other illness.
Effective Jan. 1, 2022, standard waiting periods will apply for COVID-related STD claims, according to the terms of the Group policy. This ensures that all plan members submitting a STD claim are treated fairly, no matter what the cause of the claim.
Eligible plan members will receive STD benefits up to a maximum of 10 days from the date of the onset of symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test result, minus the waiting period.
For example, if the plan has a five-day waiting period, and the plan member returns to work nine days after a positive test result, they would be eligible for four days of benefits payments.
If the claimant is still unwell after 10 days, then the standard Short Term Disability Claim Form (#421) needs to be completed.
If a plan member is admitted to hospital, benefits will be paid following the waiting period applicable to hospital claims. - Preferred life insurance solutions – individuals
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Notice of MER revision on Equitable GIF
We have incorrectly displayed MERs for four Equitable GIFTM funds. We have corrected these errors and apologize for this oversight.
Impacted Funds
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Equitable Vanguard Canada Index ETF
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Equitable Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF
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Equitable Invesco NASDAQ 100 Index ETF
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Equitable Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Index ETF
All forms and Fund Facts have been updated and are available on EquiNet®. Please use these versions going forward and discard any paper copies of Equitable GIF Fees and Fund Codes (form #2256).
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March 2026 eNews
In this issue:
Equitable is adding nutrition app to all group benefits plans*
Coming soon: One-time passcodes will be added to account login process*
Standardized CLHIA disability form is now part of our disability claims submission package*
Reminder: Review manual allocations for HCSAs and/or TSAs*
Protecting clients’ plans from benefits fraud*
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients.
Equitable is adding nutrition app to all group benefits plans
Equitable is making healthy eating easier and more accessible for all group benefits plan members. Beginning in April, access to the RxFood mobile app will be added to every Equitable group benefits plan—at no extra cost.
This will put personalized nutrition insights, practical tips and tailored recommendations at every plan member’s fingertips—helping them make more informed food choices that can either help prevent or manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
What is RxFood?
RxFood is Canada’s first clinically validated nutrition platform that’s used and trusted by leading health care institutions across the country, including SickKids Hospital, Diabetes Canada, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and more, to support better health outcomes through nutrition.
While we can track many aspects of our daily health—steps, heart rate, sleep, and blood sugar—food is often overlooked. RxFood helps close that gap by using technology that’s powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to turn everyday meals into meaningful health insights.
How it works
A plan member takes photos of their meals with their smartphone. RxFood will analyze what's on their plate, from nutritional quality to portion sizes, then provide personalized feedback, easy-to-follow suggestions and recipes with ingredient options tailored to their budget.
After a few days of logging, they’ll receive a comprehensive nutrition summary showing how their eating patterns align with their personal health goals, and where to go from there.
Check out the following video to learn more about RxFood— and how Equitable is putting the power to eat healthy in the hands of plan members.
Coming soon: One-time passcodes will be added to account login process
This spring, Equitable will launch a new multi-factor authentication (MFA) security measure to further enhance our digital security. When our new feature takes effect, anyone logging in to EquitableHealth.ca® and the Equitable EZClaim® mobile app with an email address and password may be required to enter a one-time passcode they receive via email. This will further safeguard their account access and personal data.
Keep it simple – create a passkey
If you don’t want to enter a one-time passcode when logging into your account, you can skip this extra step all together by creating a passkey on your mobile device or computer.
Passkeys are safe and provide a quicker, easier way to log in while also enhancing account security. They use either biometrics–your face or fingerprint–or a PIN authenticator to confirm your identity.
If you create and use a passkey to log in, you won’t need to enter a one-time passcode.
Learn more about passkeys. The set-up process is simple. The two videos below guide you through creating a passkey on both your mobile device and computer.
Client and plan member communications
We will share this information with clients and group benefits plan members before we introduce our new security measure. Please reach out to your Group Account Executive if you have any questions.
If you use the same email address to log in to your accounts on EquitableHealth.ca, EquiNet® and Equitable Client Access®, you can use the same passkey. Equitable Client Access is our secure site for Individual Insurance and Individual Wealth clients.
Standardized CLHIA disability form is now part of our disability claims submission packageClients with employees who are submitting short-term or long-term disability claims should be aware that we’ve changed one of the required forms in our disability claim submission package.
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s (CLHIA) Initial Disability Insurance Medical Statement has replaced our Attending Physician’s Statement (APS) form.
Our disability claim application packages on Equitable.ca and EquitableHealth.ca now include the CLHIA standardized form instead of our APS form. Our old form is no longer available on our websites.
We will continue accepting our previous APS form for initiating disability claims for now. However, we’re encouraging clients to begin using the standardized form as soon as possible. Using a standardized form for disability claims across the group insurance industry helps reduce the administrative burden on physicians by simplifying the disability application process.
If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive.
Reminder: Review manual allocations for HCSAs and/or TSAs
If your client’s Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) and/or Taxable Spending Account (TSA) has manual allocations, they need to allocate these amounts to plan members each year.
Plan administrators can update these amounts on EquitableHealth.ca. Here are the steps:- Select View certificate
- Select Health Care Spending Account or Taxable Spending Account
- Select Update Allocation in Task Center
- Enter amount in Revised Allocation Amount
- Override Reason – Plan Administrator Request
- Select Save
- Select Reports
- Select New
- Select Next
- Select HCSA or TSA Totals by Plan Member
- Select Next
- Enter end date of 12/31/2026
- Select Next
- Select Finish
- View Report
Protecting clients’ plans from benefits fraud
March is Fraud Prevention month – the perfect time for clients to educate their plan members on the consequences of benefits fraud.
According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), benefits fraud costs millions each year and can contribute to higher premiums for plan sponsors.
These resources can help clients and plan members prevent benefits fraud:- CLHIA’s free 15-minute Protect Your Benefits online course for plan administrators and their members
- CLHIA’s Fraud is Fraud program, including their FAQs on benefits fraud
- CLHIA's 10 tips to 'Protect your benefits' for plan members
How we protect against benefits fraud
Our Investigative Claims Unit (ICU) uses a range of techniques, including CLHIA‑led tools, to detect and prevent benefits fraud:- Joint Provider Fraud Investigation Program: Allows insurers to collaborate on fraud investigations that affect multiple insurers.
- Data Pooling Program: Pools data between insurers and uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to further identify and reduce benefits fraud.
- Provider Alert Registry: Allows insurers to view the results of other insurers’ anti-fraud investigations into specific practitioners.
To learn more, contact your Group Account Executive.