No business is too small for a benefits plan.
Matt Johnston, co-president of Johnston Group, the Winnipeg-based administrator of benefit services to small businesses across the country, says while it has clients with more than 200 employees on its Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan, a company’s average number of employees on the plan is seven.
“A lot of small businesses may not realize that something like this is available to them. We have a number of one- and two-person companies on the plan,” he says.
The Chambers plan has been around for a half-century and served just 130 companies when Johnston Group was formed as an administrator in 1983. Since then, it has grown to become the largest small business group benefits plan in Canada with more than 30,000 businesses.
For employees, it offers coverage above and beyond what you’d expect from an insurance plan. For
example, there’s virtual telemedicine services, which offer access to a primary care physician or nurse via video call. There’s also mental health supports plus a medical second opinion service.
For businesses, there’s a business assistance service, which includes a digital platform to access human resources information, and there’s legal guidance, financial guidance and coaching. Leadership coaching is one of the most recent additions to the plan and Johnston says that’s a response to needs in the marketplace when owners or managers feel they’re falling short when overseeing people.
“Our plan is like a bat phone for small business,” he says.
Johnston is quick to note that the company’s plan is competitive on price, but it sells on value. He says the “magic” of the Chambers Plan is its stability. As a not-for-profit, pooled plan, rates are kept stable with an average renewal over the last decade under five per cent.
“Some other plans for small businesses offer a low rate that’s guaranteed for a couple of years and then when the renewal comes around, they get a fairly startling new rate,” he says. “We have the opposite philosophy. Businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. Our benefits plan is an extension of that belief.”
Johnston Group has more than 33,000 small business clients representing about 300,000 people and their families.
