Flexible Group Insurance Program

How it works

The Flexible Group Insurance Program is a flexible benefit plan that allows you to select different coverages based on your needs. Each year, you receive an allocation of CAEselect Dollars, based on a fixed dollar allocation and a percentage of your base salary. These dollars are available in the CAEselect Tool to spend during enrollment.

The CAEselect Dollars annual allowance is a base allocation + % of your base salary.

CAE provides you with mandatory basic benefits circled in the chart below. CAE wants to ensure you have at least a basic level of insurance coverage should the unexpected happen.

  • Each benefit has a price tag. Depending on your selected coverage status and coverage options, the price of the benefit will vary. You will be able to see the price of each coverage option only once logged in the enrollment CAEselect tool. You will be able to test different scenarios before locking in your final choices.
  • Your annual allocation of CAEselect Dollars and the cost of each coverage option are available on the CAEselect Tool when you enroll.
  • Your allocation of CAEselect Dollars pays for your mandatory coverage as well as all, or part of, your chosen options.
  • If your selections cost more than your annual CAEselect Dollars allocation, you pay the difference through payroll deductions. However, in choosing more expensive benefits options, you are also choosing more comprehensive coverage!
  • If your selections leave you with excess CAEselect Dollars, you can allocate the excess to a Health Spending Account (HSA), Personal Spending Account (PSA), CAE Group RRSP or CAE Group TFSA.
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CAEselect Dollars

Pay for all, or a part of, your selected options – Learn more

Mandatory Insurance Coverage

Health Care*

Basic

Option 1
Option 2

LTD

Basic

Option 1
Option 2
Option3

Life

Basic

Optional Insurance Coverage

Dental Care

Option 1
Option 2
Option 3

Life Insurance

Employee
Spouse
Child

AD&D Insurance

Employee
Spouse
Child

Critical Illness

Employee
Spouse

Check out the CAEselect Benefits Guide and CAEselect Benefits Summary to learn more about coverage options available to you and tips to consider when making your selections. You will be able to see the price of each coverage option only once logged in the enrollment CAEselect tool. You will be able to test different scenarios before locking in your final choices.

Mandatory Insurance Coverage

You automatically receive the “Basic” coverage and can choose additional coverage during enrollment, as outlined in the CAEselect Benefits Summary.

  • Health Care* – you receive the “Basic” coverage, but you can select additional coverage (option 1 or 2) to ensure that you and your family have the coverage that you need for the year. Select the coverage you need for the services such as  paramedical and vision care.
  • Long Term Disability (LTD) – “Basic” LTD benefits are available to you if you become disabled due to sickness or injury and remain unable to work for more than 26 consecutive weeks. You can opt for additional coverage as outlined in the CAEselect Benefits Summary.

    Note: After 1 month of service, you are eligible for Short Term Disability (STD), which is fully paid for by CAE. This provides coverage for 26 weeks at 75% to 100% of the basic weekly salary, based on years of service. After 26 weeks, LTD benefits will be paid according to your selected coverage option.

  • Life Insurance – you receive “Basic” coverage, which is 1x your base annual salary. You can select more coverage for you and your family as outlined in the CAEselect Benefits Summary.

*You can opt out of health care if you are covered under another plan

Optional Insurance Coverage

Optional Insurance Coverage means that it is not mandatory. It is up to you if you would like to enroll in these benefits, check out the available options for the coverage in the CAEselect Benefits Summary.

  • Dental Care – plan ahead and think about the coverage that you and your family will need in the upcoming year.
  • Life Insurance – you receive “Basic” life insurance. Think about what your family would need if you weren’t there to provide for them and decide if you need additional coverage.
  • AD&D Insurance – consider if AD&D coverage might be right for you.
  • Critical Illness Insurance – is optional and provides you and/or your spouse with a one-time lump-sum payment in the event that you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness.

Coverage Status

Select from three coverage statuses. You will need to decide your coverage status and can choose a different status for Health Care and Dental Care. For example, you can choose “Single Parent” for Health Care and “Individual” for Dental Care.

Individual No dependents
Family You, your spouse and your eligible dependent children
Single Parent You and your eligible dependent children

Ready to enroll?

Check out the Enrollment Checklist to help you get started. Watch for a “Welcome Email” for instructions on how to access the CAEselect Tool to enroll.

Note: Be sure to enroll before the deadline to avoid being registered under the default coverage, without being able to modify your choices before the next annual re-enrollment period or following an eligible life event.

What happens if you do not enroll?

Whether you’re enrolling for the first time, or making changes during annual re-enrollment, you must make your benefits selections before the deadline.

When you are first eligible to enroll, if you do not complete your online enrollment by the deadline, you will receive the default coverage that will apply until the next annual re-enrollment period.

Default coverage

  • You will be automatically enrolled in Basic Life Insurance, Basic Health Care and Basic Long-Term Disability (LTD) coverage.
  • You will be automatically enrolled without dependents (Individual status) or as per your coverage status at the CAEselect implementation date.
  • Unspent CAEselect Dollars will be automatically allocated to the Health Spending Account (HSA).

You will not have another opportunity to select and/or change your benefits coverage during the year, unless you experience a qualifying life event.

Making Changes

  • You can update your personal and beneficiary information at any time. Access the CAEselect tool on the CAE Benefits website.
  • You can change your coverage selections each year at annual re-enrollment time.
  • When you experience a qualifying life event during the year, you can make changes to your coverage status and to your benefits options.
Note: If you do not change your coverage at annual re-enrollment, you will remain in your current option until the next annual re-enrollment period.

Life Event

A life event is a major event in a person’s life that may impact personal circumstances enough to justify a benefits change before the next annual re-enrollment. Life events can include:

  • Birth, adoption or gain of legal guardianship of a child.
  • Marriage, civil union or common law union of more than one year.
  • Divorce or legal separation.
  • Death of a dependent (spouse or child).
  • Gain or loss of eligibility to spouse’s coverage.*
  • Loss of dependent child status of the last dependent child.
  • Change in your employment status (from part-time to full-time or full-time to part-time).
  • Change in your province of employment.

If you experience a life event, you can update your benefits coverage within 31 days of the date of the life event. To make changes, go to the CAE Benefits website, access the CAEselect Tool and click on “Group Insurance Program” to update your benefits coverage.

Note that it’s not possible to change the allocation of CAE select dollars, even during a life event. If the coverage changes made during a life event create new extra CAE select dollars, the employee will be able to choose the allocation for these dollars. If the coverage changes made during a life event are more expensive than initial coverage choices, there will be deductions on the employee’s pay.

*Quebec employees: please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you and/or your dependent children are registered for Health Care coverage under the Group Insurance Program, unless covered elsewhere.

Annual Enrollment

When you select your benefits as a new hire at CAE, you are choosing your benefits for the current year.

Each year, you will need to re-enroll in your benefits for the next year, during the CAE annual re-enrollment period. You can modify your coverage to have more or less coverage. If you select less coverage, the two-year participation rule will apply.

If you do not re-enroll:

  • 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 annual re-enrollment for the next year unless you have a qualifying life event.
  • You will not have access to additional Wellness CAEselect Dollars.

Two-Year Participation Rule

Health Care & Dental Care options are subject to a two-year participation period.

  • You must remain in an option for two years before you can reduce your coverage, one option at a time, at the next annual re-enrollment.
  • You can always choose a higher option at annual re-enrollment, but you are then again subject to the two-year participation period at your new option level.