How Much Do Group Benefits Cost Per Employee in Canada? (2026)
Most Canadian small businesses can expect a group benefits plan to cost between $100 and $250 per employee per month.
A reasonable planning number for a well-designed plan is around $175 per employee per month. Some groups will come in below that. Others, with richer coverage or older demographics, will come in above it.
That single number hides a lot of variation, so it helps to look at the full range.
What the market actually charges
Canadian group benefits pricing generally falls into three tiers.
A basic plan, covering core health and dental with modest maximums, typically runs $80 to $150 per employee per month. A standard plan, which adds stronger paramedical coverage, prescription drugs, and life insurance, generally falls between $150 and $275. Enhanced plans with disability coverage, higher maximums, and spending accounts can reach $250 to $350. Source: PolicyAdvisor
Higher figures sometimes circulate online. Those numbers usually describe comprehensive plans at the rich end of the market, often for larger groups with older demographics or heavy coverage requirements. They are not what a typical small or mid-sized business should expect to budget.
Group coverage is also the dominant way Canadians access supplemental health care. The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association reports that most Canadians with health, dental, and drug coverage receive it through a workplace or group plan rather than purchasing it privately. Source: CLHIA
What moves the number up or down
Two businesses with the same headcount can receive very different quotes. The main drivers are consistent across carriers.
Employee demographics matter most. A younger workforce generally costs less to insure than an older one. Industry and occupation risk affect rates, particularly for disability coverage. Plan design decisions, such as coinsurance levels, annual maximums, and whether drugs are covered at 80 or 100 percent, shift the premium directly.
Cost sharing also changes what the employer actually pays. Many small employers split premiums with employees, often 50/50. On a $175 plan, that brings the employer's out-of-pocket cost to under $90 per employee per month.
What our clients typically pay
At Better Group Benefits, plans we design for small Ontario employers often come in around $125 per employee per month.
That is not because the coverage is thinner. It is because we compare multiple carriers, use pooled solutions where they make sense, and structure plans around what a specific workforce will actually use rather than starting from a carrier's default package.
Every group is different, and no advisor can promise a rate before reviewing the workforce. But the gap between a default quote and a designed plan is often meaningful, and it compounds every month the plan is in force.
A lower number is not automatically a better plan
It is worth being direct about this.
A plan priced at $90 per employee that employees never use, because the maximums are too low or the coverage misses what they actually need, is not a good outcome. Neither is an enhanced plan that strains the budget in year one and gets cut in year two.
The goal is a plan the business can sustain and employees genuinely value. Cost is one input into that decision, not the whole decision.
How to budget for it
Start with the per-employee monthly range that fits your intended coverage level, then multiply by headcount and decide on cost sharing.
A ten-person team on a standard plan at $175 per employee is $1,750 per month in total premium. With a 50/50 split, the employer's share is $875 per month, or $10,500 per year. The Canada Revenue Agency treats employer contributions to a qualifying Private Health Services Plan as a deductible business expense, which reduces the effective cost further. Confirm the tax treatment for your situation with your accountant. Source: CRA
From there, the question is whether that spend earns its keep through hiring, retention, and the overall strength of your offer. For most small employers competing for talent in 2026, it does.
If you are budgeting for a plan or reviewing what you currently pay, a market comparison is the fastest way to find out where your group actually lands.