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Equitable Life added the Mackenzie Global Strategic Income Fund to Pivotal Select
On June 7, 2021, Equitable Life® launched five additional funds to the Pivotal Select™ segregated funds lineup. Included in the launch is the Mackenzie Global Strategic Income Fund. Designed to deliver growth and income to investors, the underlying fund objective seeks income with the potential for long-term capital growth by investing primarily in fixed-income and/or income-oriented equity securities of issuers anywhere in the world.
At Equitable Life, we pride ourselves on offering quality products. This means always reviewing our investment fund lineup. This fund, along with the other new funds are available on all Pivotal Select load types and guarantee classes, providing you and your clients with even more choice and flexibility.
To learn more about Mackenzie Global Strategic Income Fund, join us on Tuesday, June 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT to hear Eric Glover, AVP Investment Director and Hadiza Djataou, VP Investment Director, from Mackenzie Investments, highlight the balanced solution that this fund can bring to your client’s investment portfolio.
Click here to register!
Want to learn more about our new funds? Contact your Regional Investment Sales Manager today.
® and ™ denotes a registered trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada.
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Excelerator Deposit Option – maximum payment limit changes
The Excelerator Deposit Option (EDO) gives your client the option to make additional payments, subject to specified limits and our current administrative rules and guidelines, above the required guaranteed policy premium. EDO payments can help grow the long-term values in your client’s policy. This change is regarding the maximum EDO payment limit that applies to the policy.
● NEW! If a request is received to terminate, convert, or reduce the term rider and the term rider has been in effect for 10 years or longer, the EDO maximum for the policy will not be reduced.
For Equimax policies with an Owner Signature Date of June 26, 2021 or after where a term rider has increased the maximum EDO payment limit on the policy
● If a request is received to terminate, convert, or reduce the term rider and the term rider has been in effect for less than 10 years (it has not reached the 10th policy anniversary), the EDO maximum for the policy will be reduced accordingly.
Current rules as to when underwriting is required for EDO payments continue to apply, as do current rules surrounding acceptance of EDO payments and maintaining the tax-exempt status of the policy and can be found in the Equimax Product Admin Guide.
Want more information? Contact your Regional Sales Manager for more information on these changes
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December 2022 eNews
Update: EI Sickness Benefit Extension confirmed for Dec. 18, 2022*
The federal government confirmed on Nov. 25, 2022, that it is extending the Employment Insurance (EI) Sickness Benefits period permanently from 15 weeks to 26 weeks. The change takes effect on Dec. 18, 2022.
Equitable Life will not require or implement any changes to our disability plan designs based on this extension. However, plan sponsors may wish to amend their short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) plans and policies to align with the new 26-week EI period.
If your clients choose to amend their plan design in response to this extension, we have created an overview of how amendments may affect common plan design scenarios. Click here to learn more.
If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
QDIPC updates terms and conditions for 2023*
Every year, the Quebec Drug Insurance Pooling Corporation (QDIPC) reviews the terms and conditions for the high-cost pooling system in the province.
Based on its latest review, QDIPC is revising its pooling levels and fees for 2023 to reflect trends in the volume of claims submitted to the pool, particularly catastrophic claims:
We will apply the new pooling levels and fees to future renewal calculations that involve Quebec plan members.
If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients
- [pdf] Poster - What did you wish for this year?
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AI – Not a replacement for good judgement
When it comes to AI, clients’ interests come first
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is changing how we work in Canada. It helps us do things faster, makes talking to others easier, and takes care of many daily tasks. As of mid-2025, studies show that more than 68% of Canadian financial firms — including about 15,000 advisors and 2,500 agencies — have already started using AI to stay ahead, reach clients, and handle routine tasks.1,2
For financial advisors, AI can be useful and exciting, as long as it’s used wisely and always with client privacy and regulatory compliance in mind.
AI can make your day-to-day work easier but use it with care:
• Know the risks as well as the rewards
• Remember, AI is a tool —it can’t replace your expertise and good judgement!
• When using AI, always protect client privacy and follow the rules
AI is changing how we all work. To help you keep up, we encourage you to stay up to date with industry news and tips about AI. For example, the following recent news article has some helpful tips on using AI safely and effectively in your practice: Using artificial intelligence can pose risks for advisors
When you use AI, stay vigilant and informed, use your good judgement—and always put the client’s interests first.
1Canadian Artificial Intelligence Business Adoption Survey 2025, Finance and Technology Insights Canada.
2Financial Advisors & Agency Technology Integration Report, Canadian InsurTech Analytics, July 2025.
- Fidelity Investments Canada
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Insights from a pandemic: COVID-19 and group benefits plans
We’ve received numerous questions about the impact of COVID-19 and what it will mean for benefits plans in the months ahead. Below is a summary of what we’re seeing so far. In the coming weeks, we’ll explore each of these topics in greater depth.
Disability
Initially, as COVID-19 started to spread, we saw STD claims ramp up quickly. Since then, we’ve seen the number of COVID-19-related STD claims slow significantly. As for LTD, we believe both the incidence and duration of those claims will increase in both the short term and medium term due to COVID-19.
Health and Dental Claims
We saw an overall spike in the volume and paid amounts for drug claims in March as plan members rushed to stock up on their medications. This was followed by a drop in April after most provinces put 30-day refill limits in place. One exception was claims for asthma drugs which surged in March but had no drop in April. Overall, the April plunge will be short-lived; drug costs have already begun to rise in May.
While paramedical and dental claims are down, we are seeing an increase in claims for virtual treatments and emergency dental services. We expect that claims will spike once the current pandemic restrictions are lifted. We’ve already started to see claims rise in provinces that are allowing health providers to re-open.
Despite the shift to more virtual services, we haven’t seen an increase in fraudulent activity. But we continue to be vigilant. Our investigative practices – verifying with the plan member that they received the treatment and have a valid receipt, and that the practitioner has treatment notes – remain the same whether treatment is provided in person or virtually.
Technology
During this time of physical distancing, people are looking for ways to interact with their providers virtually. Fortunately, our business model is almost entirely electronic, and we have several convenient digital options available for plan members and plan sponsors. Our focus in recent weeks has been to remind clients and plan members about these tools and make it as easy as possible for them to activate and use them. And we are continually adding functionality that will allow us to serve our customers even better.
Mental Health/Wellness
Usage of i-Volve, Homewood’s online cognitive behavioural therapy tool, increased significantly in March before levelling back down in April and May. And while EFAP cases fell in April and early-May, the number of cases has begun to climb in recent weeks, particularly for anxiety. In the coming weeks and months, we expect an eventual increase in marital and family issues, as well as depression. We’ve also seen an increase in mental-health-related prescriptions.
Plan Design
It’s too early to predict how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact benefits plan design and how it will change in the coming months. We would love to get your feedback and insights about how benefit plans will evolve and what new features or provisions they should include.
Please share your thoughts and suggestions with your Group Account Executive or myFlex Marketing Manager. Or, you can email your ideas to GroupCommunications@equitable.ca.
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A year of celebration - 100 years of protecting what matters most to Canadians
We’re proud to be celebrating 100 years of experience in the insurance industry. Over the last 100 years, through significant historic and financial challenges – two World Wars, the Great Depression, economic crises in the 80s and 90s, regulatory challenges and significant growth and expansion in the face of stiff industry competition – Equitable Life of Canada® has become one of Canada’s largest and most financially stable mutual companies.
2020 marks our 100th anniversary and we want to thank everyone who has been a part of this journey. A special 100th anniversary website, www.equitable100.ca, highlights the company’s historic milestones and shares information about the anniversary-related activities. Special celebrations will be taking place including:
- The Equitable Gives Back Contest that will award five charitable organizations in Canada a grant of $10,000 each based on their winning entries;
- The $100 a day giveaway where randomly selected clients will receive $100. In addition, there will be three grand prizes awarded to randomly selected clients at the end of the year; and
- The 100th Anniversary Legacy Donation, that will be announced in May, to an organization in Waterloo Region that helps strengthen our community.
® denotes a registered trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada.
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Update - Travel Assist Coverage*
Last Friday, we announced that plan members with Travel Assist on their benefits plan will not be eligible for coverage if they departed the country after the Government of Canada issued its Global Travel Advisory.
When the Government issued its advisory late Friday afternoon, we felt an obligation to let prospective travellers know as soon as possible so they could make informed choices about their travel. Since then, we have been made aware of a number of situations where plan members were unable to change their travel plans and need our continued support.
To provide that support, we have revised our position. We will continue to cover plan members for all eligible emergency medical expenses, including those related to COVID-19, for trips outside Canada. Given the global situation is evolving quickly, we will continue to monitor developments and update you accordingly.
In spite of this, we strongly urge your clients to advise their employees not to travel outside of the country at this time. The risk is high and the options for returning to Canada are becoming limited. Further, we urge your clients to advise their employees who are outside the country to return to Canada earlier than scheduled, if possible.
If a plan member is currently travelling abroad and is experiencing symptoms or is hospitalized with suspicion of the coronavirus, they should contact Travel Assist at the numbers listed below for assistance and to confirm their coverage.
- Toll-free Canada/USA: 1.800.321.9998
- Global call collect: 519.742.3287
- Allianz Global Assistance ID #9089
We will continue to update you as the situation develops.
We will update the announcement on our Plan Member website to reflect this change.
We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience our earlier announcement may have caused.
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients
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Most employers staying the course on benefits during COVID-19
With businesses suffering hardship due to COVID-19, employers are turning to you for advice on their benefits plans during these difficult times. We’ve received numerous questions from advisors about changes our clients are making to their plans during this crisis.
So far, the vast majority of clients are standing pat and taking a wait-and-see approach. Plan amendments have been the exception – fewer than 1% of our clients have made COVID-19-related amendments as of mid-April. Almost all are clients with fewer than 50 lives.
We know that many of our clients have experienced layoffs, but hardly any have cancelled benefits. Fewer than 0.1% have terminated benefits to date.
Below is a snapshot of plan amendments and terminations relative to our overall block, and an overview of the types of amendments we’re seeing.
COVID-19-related plan changes on Equitable Life’s block of businessAs of April 15, 2020
Have clients who need to make a change?
We know this is a difficult time for Canadian employers. If you have a client who needs to make a change to their plan, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager. We have a range of options to help them manage, and changes can be made quickly. The average turnaround time for COVID-19-related amendments is currently about four days.
We’re happy to work with each employer to understand the options that suit their specific situation best.