Desjardins (DFS) is one of Canada’s leading providers of group benefits plans, serving over 1.6 million plan members nationwide.
With over 100 years of experience providing insurance and financial services, Desjardins has established itself as a trusted source for employee benefits among mid-size and enterprise companies.
In this detailed review, we’ll examine Desjardins employee benefits packages and additional services for employers and their workforce.
Whether you’re looking to learn more about Desjardins as a potential benefits provider or how their plans compare to competitors, read on for a breakdown of their health insurance, retirement solutions, cost structure, and more.
Desjardins: Company Overview
Desjardins Group has a long history dating back to 1900, when it was founded as a cooperative financial institution in Lévis, Quebec. The company expanded across the province over the first half of the 20th century, eventually becoming one of Canada’s largest insurance providers.
2011 Desjardins acquired State Farm Canada’s property and casualty business, solidifying its position as a leader in group benefits with over 5 million members and clients nationwide. It now serves members and clients through its Caisse network in Quebec, insurance agents and brokers across Canada, and financial advisors with subsidiary Desjardins Financial Security.
DFS is a significant property and casualty insurer in Canada. It provides a diverse range of financial and insurance products, including loans and mortgages, investment solutions, and group benefits plans. The company positions social responsibility, cooperation, sustainable development, and ethics as its core cooperative values.
Source: https://www.desjardins.com/ca/about-us/desjardins/who-we-are/our-history-museum/timeline/index.jsp
Services and Offerings
In terms of group benefits, Desjardins provides a wide range of insurance options, including:
- Health insurance (extended healthcare)
- Dental Insurance
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance
- Essential and optional life insurance
- Business travel insurance
Beyond standard benefits coverage, Desjardins also offers additional services for group plans, such as:
- Virtual healthcare
- Health spending accounts
- Wellness accounts
- Employee assistance programs
- Disability management
They also provide retirement savings solutions like group RRSPs, defined benefit pension plans, and deferred profit-sharing plans.
Company Culture and Values
As a cooperative financial group, Desjardins operates around the principles of social responsibility, collaboration, environmental stewardship, education, and cooperation. The company emphasizes values like integrity, transparency, and commitment to the community.
Desjardins focuses on providing a quality of life in the workplace and upholds diversity, equality, and inclusion standards. In 2024, Desjardins was included among Canada’s Top 100 Employers, showcasing its commitment to employees. Focusing on corporate culture and social values helps strengthen Desjardins’ brand as a group benefits provider.
Desjardins Employee Benefits Packages and Options
Desjardins provides insurance coverage to support groups’ and their employees’ health, well-being and financial security. Here are the main benefits offered:
Health Insurance
One significant component of Desjardins group plans is supplementary health insurance to fill gaps in provincial healthcare coverage. Their extended health plans cover expenses like:
- Prescription drugs
- Paramedical services such as physiotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic care
- Medical equipment and supplies
- Ambulance transportation
- Out-of-province emergency medical costs
- Private nursing, home care and convalescent care
- Accidental dental treatment
- Travel Insurance
DFS provides two primary levels of supplementary health insurance – Basic and Enhanced plans. This allows employers to select the right amount of coverage based on their benefits budget and workforce demographics.
Here’s an overview of some of the critical differences between Basic and Enhanced health plans:
| Benefit | Basic Plan | Enhanced Plan |
| Prescription Drugs | 50-80% coverage, $10,000 max | 80-100% coverage, $10,000 max |
| Paramedical Services | $300-500 max per type | $400-700 max per type |
| Medical Supplies | 50-80% coverage | 80-100% coverage |
| Ambulance | $1500 max | $2000-$4000 max |
| Semi-Private Hospital | Not covered | 100% coverage |
| Out-of-Country Medical | $5 million max | $5 million max |
The Enhanced plan increases reimbursement and includes additional benefits like vision care, convalescent home care and semi-private hospital room coverage.
Employers can further customize health insurance by adding options like:
- Increased coverage for high-cost prescription drugs
- Coverage for vaccinations
- Fertility treatments
- Expanded paramedical coverage
Dental Insurance
DFS offers extensive dental coverage for routine preventative care and significant restorative dental work. Dental plans can include:
- Cleanings, oral exams and X-rays
- Fillings and extractions
- Root canals, periodontics, denture repairs
- Crowns, bridges and implants
- Orthodontic braces
Desjardins allows employers to add dental coverage to their benefits plans at two levels – Basic and Enhanced.
The Basic dental plan covers preventative services and restorative care, such as fillings and extractions. The Enhanced plan covers major dental work, such as crowns, bridges, implants, and orthodontic braces.
Here’s an overview of how the two plans compare:
| Benefit | Basic Plan | Enhanced Plan |
| Preventative Care | 80% coverage, 2 exams per year | 100% coverage, 2 exams per year |
| Basic Restorative | 50% coverage | 100% coverage |
| Major Restorative | Not covered | 50-100% coverage |
| Orthodontics | Not covered | 50-60% coverage, $2500 max |
Adding dental insurance provides essential coverage to maintain oral health and avoid major issues. Desjardins allows employers to select the level of dental care that fits their workforce needs and budget.
Disability Insurance
Protecting employee income in the event of illness or injury is a crucial component of benefits packages. DFS offers short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance.
Short-term Disability Insurance
Desjardins STD plans to replace 70-80% of pre-disability income in the initial weeks of disability. They offer options like:
- Waiting periods (elimination periods) of 30, 60, 90 or 120 days
- Benefit payment periods (maximum durations) of 2 or 5 years
- Taxable or non-taxable benefits
- Optional cost of living adjustments (COLA)
- Return-to-work bonuses
This coverage supports employees during the first weeks to months of recovery and until long-term disability benefits begin.
Long-term Disability Insurance
For ongoing income replacement, Desjardins provides long-term disability insurance with options that include:
- Waiting periods (elimination periods) of 1 or 2 years
- Benefit payment periods (maximum durations) to age 65 or 70
- Non-taxable benefits if you paid all the premiums yourself
- Monthly payouts based on your income and job type
- Monthly payouts of 50-75% of pre-disability income
- Early intervention and rehabilitation programs
- Optional cost of living adjustments (COLA)
(Source: https://www.desjardins.com/qc/en/insurance/disability.html)
Having both STD and LTD coverage is critical to maintaining financial stability in the event of sickness or injury lasting weeks, months or years.
Life Insurance
Desjardins offers an array of term life and permanent life insurance that can be customized based on employee demographics and income levels.
Term Life Insurance
For coverage over a set period, Desjardins provides term life insurance with durations of:
- Ten years
- 15 years
- 20 years
- 25 years
- 30 years
- To age 65
Key features include:
- Renewability to age 85 on many policies
- Conversion privileges to extend or convert coverage
- Available coverage up to $20 million
- Joint first-to-die and last-to-die options
Permanent Life Insurance
For lifelong coverage, permanent life insurance options from DFS include:
- Basic permanent life with guaranteed acceptance
- Participating whole life with dividends and cash value
- Universal life with an investment component
- Final expense life insurance
These policies provide long-lasting financial protection along with tax-preferred cash value savings. Adding life insurance is an essential part of benefits packages, giving employees peace of mind their families will be taken care of.
Retirement Plans
Beyond health and life insurance, Desjardins also provides retirement savings options to help employees financially prepare for their golden years. Retirement plan choices include:
- Group RRSPs: These tax-advantaged savings programs allow employees to grow their nest egg through employer and employee contributions. Desjardins offers investment management and ongoing tracking of savings amounts and fund performance.
- Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Desjardins can establish customized pension plans for employer groups, with reliably fixed retirement benefits based on length of service and earnings history.
- DPSPs: Deferred profit-sharing plans provide retirement income through employer contributions, typically calculated as a percentage of annual employee earnings. Contributions compound tax-deferred.
Providing retirement benefits helps attract and retain employees by giving them tools to save for the future while allowing them to benefit from tax reductions now.
Additional Perks and Services
In addition to the core insurance coverage in benefits packages, Desjardins includes several additional programs and services for comprehensive support.
Health and Wellness Platforms
Digital platforms like Health is Cool provide health tips, directories of medical resources and prevention programs to keep employees physically and mentally fit. This promotes productivity, reduces absenteeism, and helps control benefits and costs.
Employee Assistance Programs
Desjardins offers 24/7 phone counselling and in-person sessions to help employees deal with personal issues, including relationships, substance abuse, workplace performance, and more. These confidential programs provide support in times of stress or crisis.
Supplementary Products
Group critical illness insurance and Best Doctors services can be added on to provide financial and healthcare support in the event of severe medical conditions like cancer, stroke or heart attack.
Virtual Healthcare
Desjardins now partners with health tech providers like Akira and EQ Care to offer virtual access to healthcare providers through secure messaging, video calls and app-based platforms. This makes care more convenient for employees.
These extra services work cohesively with the insurance benefits offered to encourage employee health, well-being and productivity.
Costs, Ratings, and Reviews of Desjardins Employee Benefits
Desjardins offers competitive premiums for group benefits plans based on factors like industry, demographics, coverage types and more.
Here’s an overview of Desjardins benefits costs, customer service ratings, and testimonials.
Benefits Plan Costs and Premiums
For health and dental insurance, monthly premiums are determined based on:
- Benefit types and levels chosen
- Employee and dependent demographics like age, gender, smoking status
- Industry and associated risks
- Location
- Past claims experience
For life and disability insurance, premiums vary based on:
- Benefit amount and coverage terms
- Employee age, gender, salary, occupation
- Industry risks and hazards
- Prior disability experience
Desjardins prices for group benefits tend to be competitive compared to other major carriers in Canada. Bundling multiple policies together can allow for 10-15% discounts, lowering the total cost.
Customer Service Ratings
Desjardins maintains positive ratings for customer service, policyholder experiences and financial stability from independent rating agencies.
- A.M. Best Rating: A+
- Standard and Poor’s Rating: A+
- Moody’s Rating: Aa2
- J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Score: 835 out of 1000
These scores reflect Desjardins’ strong reputation as an insurer and service provider based on metrics such as pricing, responsiveness, transparency, and more.
Pros and Cons of Desjardins Employee Benefits
Here’s an overview of some of the critical advantages and potential drawbacks of Desjardins Group benefits packages and services:
Advantages of Desjardins Benefits
- Wide range of benefits beyond just health/dental, including retirement, life insurance, disability, virtual healthcare and more
- Significant customization is available for benefit types, levels, terms
- National reach combined with local support and service
- Positive reputation and ratings for pricing, claims processes and customer service.
- Extensive additional services like fraud protection, disability management and employee assistance
- Beneficial for employers seeking a full-service benefits provider and one-stop-shop
Potential Disadvantages
- Slightly higher premiums compared to some competitors
- Access to rates and applications requires calling a broker or representative; quotes and applications are unavailable online.
- Older technology systems compared to some newer digital-first competitors.
- Most expensive for small groups under 100 employees
Desjardins provides a complete employee benefits package, but costs may be higher than those of some carriers. The trade-off is more customization options and hands-on support.
The bottom line
Desjardins is among the leading group benefits providers for mid-size to large Canadian companies with its benefits offerings, customized packages, and additional services.
While premiums are higher, Desjardins allows employers to tailor coverage to meet their precise needs. This, combined with supportive programs for health, disability, and retirement, makes Desjardins a one-stop-shop for benefits, with the advantage of both national scale and local assistance.
Finding the right employee benefits provider is an important decision for any business in Canada. With a range of options to choose from, it’s helpful to understand the landscape of top providers across the country. Some of the leading employee benefits providers in Canada include:
- Assumption Life Employee Benefits in Canada
- Medavie Blue Cross Employee Benefits
- Pacific Blue Cross Employee Benefits
- Wawanesa Insurance Employee Benefits
- Equitable Life of Canada Employee Benefits
- RBC Insurance Employee Benefits
- Beneva Employee Benefits