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HR News Canada · Interactives
More employees are walking through the benefits door
Seven years of Sun Life claims data show the surge in benefits use isn't the same people claiming more. It's more people claiming, led by mental health care and by younger workers treating conditions once associated with middle age.
Claim 01The rebound
The 2020 dip didn't last
In 2020, paramedical claims fell, as expected. What Sun Life didn't necessarily expect was what came next: claims recovered past their pre-pandemic level and kept climbing every year through 2025.
Drug claims followed a similar arc. They returned to baseline after the pandemic dip, jumped in 2022 and kept growing, more slowly but steadily, through 2025.
Paramedical claims fell in 2020, then climbed past 2019 levels and kept rising
Schematic of the direction described by Sun Life. Not plotted values.
Source: Sun Life claims data, plan members under 65.
Claim 02Who's claiming
It's not the same people claiming more
The obvious explanation would be a group of heavy users ringing up more visits. The data says otherwise. In both paramedical and drug claims, Sun Life found the growth came almost entirely from a bigger share of plan members making a claim at all.
For employers, that changes the conversation. This isn't a cost problem concentrated in a few files. It's a broad change in how the workforce uses the plan.
Same people, more claims each
Growth driven by more claims per person.
More people making a claim
What Sun Life found: a higher proportion of members claiming.
Illustration only; dots do not represent counts.
Claim 03Mental health
Mental health care went the other way in the pandemic
Every other paramedical category dipped in 2020. Mental health practitioner claims accelerated. Sun Life points to more people in distress, therapists moving to virtual sessions and de-stigmatization campaigns that made it easier to ask for help.
Mental health practitioner claims per plan member, 2019 to 2025
More than three times.
Claims have more than tripled since 2019. Mental health practitioners now generate almost as many claims per covered member as chiropractors.
Massage therapy, physiotherapy and chiropractic remain the most-used paramedical benefits. But no category grew faster than mental health, and by a wide margin.
Claim 04Who's seeking help
The youngest workers are leading the climb
The share of plan members making a mental health practitioner claim was about 2.5 times higher in 2025 than in 2019. Among members under 30, it more than tripled.
Women are about twice as likely as men to make a mental health claim, and their growth is outpacing men's. The exception is the under-30 group, where young men's growth has recently edged ahead of young women's. Sun Life calls that an encouraging sign for a group that has historically avoided asking for help.
Under-30s show the steepest rise in mental health claiming
Share of plan members making at least one mental health practitioner claim, 2025 compared with 2019
Men's growth was "not far behind" women's, Sun Life says. It did not publish a figure, so men are not charted. Hatched ends mark "more than."
Source: Sun Life claims data. Women and all members: plan members under 65.
Claim 05Your workforce
Where does your workforce fit?
The drivers differ by age and sex. Pick a group to see what Sun Life's data shows for it.
By age or sex
Source: Sun Life claims data, 2019–2025. Climate anxiety figure: Sun Life/Ipsos national survey of Canadian employees, 2024, as cited by Sun Life.
Claim 06Chronic disease
Young workers, older conditions
Drugs for high blood pressure and diabetes remain the most-claimed categories, followed by cholesterol and depression drugs. Cholesterol, diabetes and depression drugs stand out for both high use and fast growth.
Across those four chronic-disease drug types, Gen Z employees still claim far less than older colleagues. But their growth is the fastest of any age group. Sun Life points to more sedentary lifestyles, more processed food and higher obesity rates during this generation's formative years, along with doctors screening younger patients earlier.
Gen Z's chronic-disease drug claims are growing two to three times faster
Recent claims growth for asthma/COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol drugs, relative to any other age group
Lighter segment shows the reported range, from two to three times.
<2%
of plan members under 40 claim for cholesterol drugs. It's still rare, but growth in this group is significantly higher than among older members. Blood pressure drugs show the same pattern at a lower rate.
Source: Sun Life claims data.
Claim 07The treatment gap
Women are closing a long-standing treatment gap
Men are still more likely to claim for cholesterol and diabetes drugs. But the share of women claiming for both grew more than twice as fast as men's between 2019 and 2025.
Sun Life links the change to wider awareness of sex-specific cardiovascular risk and of women's health issues such as menopause. Women are also now about twice as likely as men to be taking a depression drug.
Women's cholesterol and diabetes drug claiming is growing at more than double men's pace
Growth in the share of plan members claiming, 2019–2025. Men's growth set to 1.
Men remain more likely to claim in both categories. The gap is narrowing.
Source: Sun Life claims data, plan members under 65.
Claim 08What's next
The next wave is already on the drug plan
Weight-management drugs were a modest, steady line item until 2023. Then the launch of Wegovy, the first weekly GLP-1 drug approved in Canada for chronic weight management, followed by Zepbound in 2025 and more employers adding coverage, sent claims climbing.
Sun Life expects generic GLP-1 drugs to reach Canada soon, which it says will drive even more growth. Only one major drug category shrank over the period: narcotic painkillers.
Weight-management drugs lead the fastest-growing claim categories
2025 level compared with 2019
Under-40s are more than 1.5 times as likely as older members to claim for ADHD drugs. The strongest HRT growth is among women aged 40 to 49.
Source: Sun Life claims data, plan members under 65. Testosterone figure is growth in claims; others are growth in the share of members claiming.
Claim 09Prevention
Where earlier support could pay off
Sun Life and University of Toronto population health researchers used the Michigan Model for Diabetes to project outcomes for members with Type 2 diabetes. Those in a digital, pharmacist-led coaching program were projected to be half as likely to progress to insulin 10 years later.
No coachingBaseline risk
Digital coachingHalf as likely
Source: Sun Life research partnership with the University of Toronto, being prepared for peer-reviewed submission. Projection, not observed outcomes.
What this means for you
Sun Life reads higher use as largely positive when it reflects awareness, access and earlier care. For plan sponsors, it means designing for a workforce that is using its benefits more broadly than before.
- Track participation, not just cost per claim.The growth is coming from more employees claiming. Your utilization reports should show how many people use each benefit, by age and sex.
- Make mental health support easy to find and use.It is the fastest-growing paramedical category, and younger employees, including young men, are leaning on it most.
- Plan for chronic-disease costs to arrive earlier.Cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure drug claims are rising fastest among your youngest staff.
- Settle your position on weight-management drugs.The share of members claiming has more than quadrupled since 2019, and generic GLP-1s are expected to push growth further.
- Look at support for menopause and women's chronic health.The share of members claiming HRT is up more than 80 per cent since 2019, led by women in their 40s.
HR News Canada is an independent source of workplace news for human resources professionals, managers, and business leaders. Published by North Wall Media.
