FAQs

You can request a new one on the CAE Benefits website main page by clicking on the “Forgot Password?”. A new PIN will be emailed to you within 15 minutes.

Check your beneficiary designations online and update them as needed. Once you make your beneficiaries designations, they become effective immediately as no paper forms are required to be submitted. Signing into CAE Benefits website with your unique credentials is your new electronic signature.

• Go to the CAE Benefits website and select “Group Insurance Plan”.
• From top bar menu, select “Your Beneficiaries”.
• Add a beneficiary or make a change.

Your Life Insurance benefits will not have a designated beneficiary therefore, any benefit will be directed to your estate and will be taxed.

You will not be able to choose where to allocate your unspent CAEselect Dollars – if you do not make a formal choice, they will automatically be deposited into your Health Spending Account (HSA), even if you allocated them to a different account at the last re-enrollment or at your initial enrollment..

• You will maintain the same status and coverage.
• You will not be able to make changes to your coverage until the next annual re-enrollment period unless you have a qualifying life event.
• You will not have access to additional Wellness CAEselect Dollars.

• Since credit allocations and premiums were changed, you should verify the costs related to your benefits following these changes.
• Remember that re-enrolling is the only way to receive up to $50 in Wellness CAEselect Dollars.
• Important! Don’t forget to allocate your unspent CAEselect Dollars to the account that you want. If you do not make a formal choice, unspent dollars will automatically be deposited in your Health Spending Account (HSA), even if you allocated them to a account at the last re-enrollment or at your initial enrollment.

Your CAEselect Dollars allow you to pay for your coverage, in whole or in part. They are automatically attributed when you re-enroll in the CAEselect Tool. Try different ways of allocating your dollars to see which is best for you and to know the amount of payroll deductions that may be needed. Here are a few tips to help you in this process.

Look at previous years’ expenses

• Compare your health and dental expenses from the last few years to your needs for the next re-enrollment year (your claims history is available at mysunlife.ca).
• Your claims history will show you your expenses and reimbursements from previous years. Do you spend a lot on certain care? Is there any category for which minimal coverage will suffice?
• Is your claims history representative of your situation or do you foresee other expenses in the next two years? Which ones?

Consider your available options

• You can plan on decreasing your coverage, as long as you respect the two-year participation rule.
• You can opt out of health care if you are covered under another plan, such as under your spouse’s plan. This will free up CAEselect Dollars, which can be allocated to a Health Spending Account (HSA), a Personal Spending Account (PSA) or the CAE group RRSP.
• Remember that insurance is mainly designed to protect you and your family in case of unforeseen circumstances!

Discuss your coverage needs with your spouse

Does your spouse have separate coverage? If yes, how do the coverage and cost compare to the Flexible Group Insurance program? Does each of you have family coverage or can one of you save by opting out of coverage, or by selecting individual coverage?

Are you paying for double coverage while getting reimbursed by only one plan? You can coordinate benefits between plans to increase your reimbursement.

• By allocating unspent CAEselect Dollars to your HSA, you will be able to pay coinsurance and eligible expenses not reimbursed by your or your spouse’s plans.
• Your HSA is like a bank account: you can use it to pay health and dental expenses that are eligible under the Income Tax Act (as determined by the Canada Revenue Agency).
• For a complete list of HSA eligible expenses, access the Sun Life document “Health Spending Account (HSA) – Eligible Expenses”, located on the CAE Benefits website > Group Insurance Program > under the Forms tab. For more information, you can link directly to the Sun Life website through the CAE Benefits website.
• You can use it for yourself and/or your dependents.
• Remember that your HSA dollars are forfeited after two years if they are not used.
• You can check your HSA balance by accessing your account at mysunlife.ca.

Tax facts:

• CAEselect Dollars allocated to the HSA are not taxable.
• Quebec employees – the amount deposited into your HSA remains tax free until an eligible expense is paid from the HSA. The amount paid from the HSA is subject to provincial tax, as well as applicable fees and taxes. The amount paid from the account is federal tax exempt.

• By allocating unspent CAEselect Dollars to your PSA, you will be able to pay specific wellness-related expenses, such as nutrition programs, fitness equipment, day care for children, elder care, etc.
• Your PSA is like a bank account: you can use it to pay eligible expenses.
• For a complete list of eligible PSA expenses, access the Sun Life document “Personal Spending Account (PSA) – Eligible Expenses”, located on the CAE Benefits website > Group Insurance Program > under the Forms tab. For more information, you can link directly to the Sun Life website through the CAE Benefits website.
• Remember that your PSA dollars are forfeited after two years if they are not used.
• You can check your PSA balance by accessing your account at mysunlife.ca.

Tax facts:

• Benefits paid by the PSA are a taxable benefit at both the federal and provincial levels.

Any credits remaining in your account at the end of a benefit year are automatically carried forward to the following benefit year. You have until the end of the second benefit year to use any credits carried forward, after which they will be lost.

*Since the amount carried over from Year 1 ($200) is first used to pay expenses from Year 2, which are only $175, unused dollars from Year 1 ($25) are lost.

Yes, you can choose a different coverage option for health care and dental care. For example, you can choose single parent for Option 2 for health care and individual for Option 1 for dental care.

• Think about how much dental care coverage you might need.
• You can opt out and use your Health Spending Account (HSA) to cover the costs.

Yes, but you must keep in mind the following rules, if applicable:

• Health care and dental care:
  • Decrease: allowed in accordance with the two-year participation rule explained in the next question.
  • Increase: allowed at every annual re-enrollment.
• Long-term disability insurance: no restrictions.
• Optional life insurance: any increase requires proof of good health.
• Optional accidental death and disability insurance: no restrictions.
• Critical illness insurance: any increase requires proof of good health.

Your health care and dental care options are subject to a minimum two-year participation period before you can decrease your coverage by one level at a time.

• You must remain in the same option for at least two years before you can reduce your level of coverage by one option at a time.
• You may always choose a higher option during the annual re-enrollment, but you will need to remain in this new option for at least two years before being able to decrease coverage.

Let’s look at the example of Charles…

• Charles chose dental care Option 2 for himself and his dependents when he enrolled for CAEselect Benefits coverage in 2018.
• In 2019, his needs having changed, he increased his dental care coverage to Option 3.
• For 2022, he realizes that he doesn’t need as much coverage as he used to and wants to decrease his coverage.
• Charles can decrease his coverage to Option 2, because he maintained his coverage under Option 3 for three years (more than the two-year minimum).
• Note that Charles can only decrease his coverage to Option 1 as of January 2024 after having stayed in Option 2 for two years.

Let’s look at the example of Laura…

• Laura got divorced in spring 2021. After this life event she chose Option 2 for health care, as she was no longer covered by a spouse’s plan.
• Laura can decrease her coverage to Option 1 as of January 2024 only.
• She must remain in the same option for two complete years (until spring 2023) and can only decrease her coverage in January 2024.
• She can however increase her coverage to Option 3 as of January 2022.

• Renew your recurring prescriptions every three months instead of every month to reduce the number of times you pay the dispensing fee.
• The plan only reimburses the price of generic drugs, so if you are using a patented or original drug, always ask your doctor or pharmacist if a generic version is available.
• If you need maintenance medication, for example for hypertension, shop around for your pharmacy as they don’t all charge the same prices. Alternative pharmacies in big-box stores and mail-order pharmacies can sometimes offer great service with great savings.
• Claim your coinsurance from your Health Spending Account (HSA) if you have credits available.
• Shop around for your dentist; they sometimes charge more than what is recommended by their province’s dental fee guide – therefore more than what is covered by the plan.

A mail-order pharmacy is a virtual pharmacy where you can purchase maintenance medication at a significantly lower cost. As with a traditional pharmacy, medication is dispensed by licensed pharmacists who review your file and ensure that there are no interactions or other adverse effects with the use of your medication. You can order medication via the internet or by phone and have it delivered to your door shortly afterwards. These pharmacists are also available for questions or counselling by phone, email or other means of communication.

By maintaining lower operating costs (i.e., rent, staff, etc.), mail-order pharmacies are able to pass on the savings to their customers. Mail-order pharmacies are present throughout Canada, making them an option to consider in order to save while still obtaining great service.

Some wholesale-type stores also have pharmacies and the price for medication can be very advantageous. While shopping in these stores would normally require a membership card, this is not the case when purchasing medication at the pharmacy. The pharmacies are open to all, with or without a membership.

Your choice of coverage level in the case of long-term disability insurance should correspond to your financial needs for the length of the absence, which can be long. Here are a few things to consider:

• What expenses would I have if I were to suffer a long-term disability? What expenses would I no longer have?
• Is my employment income the main revenue source for my household?
• Will my future needs be different or the same as my current needs?
• Would the benefit be sufficient if my disability continued until retirement?
• Do I need indexation, given the number of years until my retirement?

By answering these questions, you will be better able to make your decision.

Example: Lynn, who is close to retirement

Lynn is 61 and considers her financial situation to be quite good. Knowing that she does not need a high level of income replacement given her financial situation; that indexation only takes effect after two years of disability; and that LTD coverage ends at age 65, Lynn considers the following options:

Lynn chooses basic coverage because she does not think she needs a high level of replacement income. In addition, she would not receive LTD benefits over a long time, given that she is close to age 65. Finally, she would rather use her CAEselect Dollars to pay for coverage so that her pay cheque is not affected.

Example: Marc, who has many expenses and is far from retirement age

Marc is 30 years old. He is a father of one child, with a second on the way, and is the principal wage earner for the family. He wants to make sure to have coverage that would allow him to handle the increase in the cost of living if he were disabled for a long time. Marc therefore needs a high replacement income as well as indexation benefits. The options are:

Marc chooses Option 3 because this option is indexed and offers a significant replacement income level, with disability benefits not taxed when paid out. He also prefers to pay by payroll deductions so that he can use his CAEselect Dollars for other coverage.

Yes, you are considered a smoker under the CAEselect Benefits Plan.

All CAE employees have travel assistance coverage when they are travelling on business. Help us control plan costs by contacting the right provider for the right reason.

If you and your dependents are covered under the CAEselect Health Plan, you are covered by the Sun Life Travel Benefit and Medi-Passport. Note that this coverage does not include trip cancellation or baggage insurance.

If you opted out of the CAEselect Health Plan, you are not covered by the emergency medical assistance when you travel for personal reasons.

Lastly, GardaWorld coverage never applies when you travel for personal reasons.