On Canada Day (July 1st), Canada Life took over from Sun Life as the administrator of the employer-sponsored Public Service Healthcare Plan.This plan covers most active and retired federal public service workers, as well as their families. At the same time of the changeover, a number of plan improvements and changes were implemented. This transition has resulted in Canada Life’s customer service centre and web portail being overwhelmed - with members reporting excessive wait times and crashed websites. While some hiccups during such a large-scale transfer are expected, it appears that the plan administrator and Treasury Board did not dedicate sufficient resources to facilitate this transition. Canada Life is taking remedial actions to improve plan member experience and the Administrative Authority continues to monitor the situation to ensure Canada Life meets its contractual obligations.
While Canada Life continues to address these issues, plan members are asked to exercise an abundance of patience. If your concern is not urgent, we suggest waiting a couple weeks before reaching out. Most plan provisions remain unchanged, meaning that members will continue to benefit from the same or improved coverage for most medical products and services. Many issues can be corrected retroactively. Information on the updated plan, including an explanation of the legacy protections for medication, is provided in the PIPSC PSHCP member handbook and FAQs. Plan members with legacy protections do not need to contact Canada Life to maintain eligibility for reimbursement.