Overview

Annual contribution (total credit allocation) = $500. 
Each employee can then allocate their total amount, within the program guidelines, towards the following account

  • Health Spending Account 
  • Personal Spending Account

Terms of Reference

MAXIMUM: $500 per eligible member per benefit year

Allocating your funds

Eligible members may choose, on an annual basis, to allocate the $500 in total credits between the Health Spending Account (HSA) and the Personal Spending Account (PSA) or designate the full amount to one account.

The Health Spending Account (HSA)
Provides reimbursement for qualifying health and dental expenses for eligible members and their dependents for claims that have not been reimbursed by the extended health or dental plans. Benefits paid by the Health Spending Account are considered non-taxable.

The Personal Spending Account (PSA)
Provides reimbursement for eligible expenses that promote the wellness of members of Faculty Association bargaining unit through physical fitness activities that have been shown to contribute to reduce absenteeism and reduce the cost of health benefits. Benefits paid by the Personal Spending Account are considered taxable.

CRA requires that credit allocations are made before the benefit year starts. This must be done by December 31 of the previous year. Allocations cannot be adjusted during the current benefit year. If no allocation choice is made by December 31, the $500 credit allocation will be automatically deposited to the account(s) in the same manner as the previous year (or to the HSA for members who have not previously allocated funds).

Human Resources will notify eligible members of the requirement to allocate their funds between accounts, or to one account online (through PAWS) before December 31 of each year.

Both the HSA and PSA are administered by Sun Life Financial according to their respective plan summaries.

Carry Forward Credit Accrual

If there is an amount remaining in your HSA and/or PSA at the end of a plan year, it will carry over for one plan year only. Find your HSA/PSA balance.

  • EXAMPLE
    You have $100 of your 2020 allocation remaining in your Health spending account. You will be able to access this amount until Dec. 31, 2021. Any amounts remaining after the end of the second year will be returned to the university.

If a member’s HSA and/or PSA reaches a zero balance at any time during the benefit year, any further expenses will not be carried forward.

As required under Canada Revenue Agency rules, after the end of the next benefit year any unused credit amounts are forfeited by the member and revert back to the University of Saskatchewan.

If you move to a position in a different employment group that doesn't have the flexible spending benefit, any unused credit amounts will be forfeited and revert back to the university.

Taxation

Any amounts reimbursed under the HSA are considered non-taxable benefits to the eligible member.

Under the University of Saskatchewan’s interpretation of The Income Tax Act, amounts reimbursed from the PSA are considered taxable benefits to the eligible member.

Health Spending Account

Dependents

Dependents

All dependents must be residents of Canada and be eligible under the provincial government health care benefits in their province of residence.

The HSA may be used to reimburse eligible medical and dental expenses for other family members who qualify as a dependent under The Income Tax Act, e.g. dependent grandparent. Please contact Sun Life Financial for more information at 1-800-361-6212.

Eligible Expenses

Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • premiums
  • deductibles
  • co-insurance amounts
  • out-of-Canada health premiums

  • acupuncturist (if a qualified medical practitioner)
  • anesthetist
  • chiropodist
  • chiropractor
  • Christian Science practitioner or nurse
  • dental hygienist
  • dental mechanic (for the making or repairing of a complete upper or lower denture)
  • dentist
  • dermatologist
  • dietician
  • gynecologist
  • homeopath
  • massage therapy
  • naturopath
  • neurologist
  • nurse (R.N.)
  • nutritional counsellor (by written recommendation of a physician)
  • obstetrician
  • occupational therapist
  • oculist
  • optician
  • optometrist
  • orthopedist 
  • osteopath 
  • pediatrician 
  • physician
  • physiotherapist
  • podiatrist
  • practical nurse (RNA – medical services only)
  • psychiatrist
  • psychoanalyst
  • psychologist (if licensed to provide therapy or rehabilitation)
  • speech therapist (pathological or audiological only)
  • surgeon
  • therapeutist/therapist
  • x-ray technician

  • dental x-rays
  • extracting teeth
  • filling teeth
  • gum treatment 
  • oral surgery
  • straightening teeth

  • oxygen masks, tent
  • use of operating room
  • other hospital charges

See also Professional Services, Laboratory Examinations and Tests, and Medical Treatments

  • blood tests
  • cardiographs
  • metabolism tests
  • spinal Fluid tests
  • other laboratory Tests
  • x-ray examinations

  • blood transfusion
  • diathermy
  • electric shock treatments
  • healing services
  • hydrotherapy
  • injections
  • insulin treatments
  • pre-natal, post-natal treatments
  • radium therapy
  • transplants: for 1998 and later years, on behalf of a patient who requires a bone marrow or organ transplant, the reasonable costs of locating a compatible donor and arranging for the transplant, including legal fees and insurance premiums; and reasonable travelling, board, and lodging expenses for the donor and a companion, as well as the recipient and a companion incurred in respect of the transplant.
  • ultra-violet ray treatments
  • vaccines
  • whirlpool bath therapy
  • x-ray treatments

  • accommodation in a hospital (semi-private or private)
  • treatment, meals, and lodging in treatment centres for alcoholism or drug addiction
  • care and supervision in a special school, institution, or another place for a mentally or physically disabled individual; including care in a group home for a severely disabled individual
  • care in own home
  • care of a blind person
  • care of a person certified to be mentally incompetent
  • full-time attendants or care in a nursing home (for confinement to a bed or wheelchair)
  • payments to a licensed private hospital

  • cost of prescriptions
  • insulin or substitutes
  • liver extract — injectable for pernicious anaemia
  • oxygen
  • tapes or tablets for sugar content tests by diabetics, if the procedure has been required by a physician
  • vitamin B-12 for pernicious anaemia
  • any medicine or drug purchased by a member, a spouse, or a dependent, as prescribed by a medical practitioner or dentist and as recorded by a licensed pharmacist

(including repairs and replacement batteries where applicable):

Note that all items prescribed by regulation, as indicated by an asterisk (*) below, must be prescribed by a medical practitioner to be eligible.

  • artificial eye
  • artificial kidney machine, including reasonable installation, home alteration, and operating costs
  • artificial limb
  • blood sugar level measuring devices for diabetics
  • brace for a limb including elasticized stockings if carefully fitted to measurement or made to measure
  • catheters, catheter trays, tubing, diapers and disposable briefs or other products required by persons who are incontinent by virtue of illness, injury, or affliction
  • colostomy pads and related supplies
  • contact lenses — prescribed
  • crutches, canes, walkers
  • devices designed exclusively to enable an individual with a mobility impairment to operate a vehicle*
  • devices designed to assist an individual in walking where the individual has a mobility impairment*
  • devices or equipment, including a replacement part, designed exclusively for use for a chronic respiratory ailment or a severe chronic immune system deregulation*
  • devices to aid the hearing of a deaf person, including bone-conduction telephone receivers, extra-loud audible signals, and devices to permit volume adjustment of telephone equipment above normal levels
  • devices or equipment designed to assist a person in entering or leaving a bathtub or shower, or getting on or off a toilet*
  • electronic speech synthesizers that enable mute persons to communicate using a portable keyboard*
  • environmental control systems (electronic or computerized) designed exclusively for the use of an individual with severe and prolonged mobility restrictions*
  • equipment and accessories that enable deaf or mute persons to make and receive telephone calls, including visual ringing indicators, acoustic couplers, teletypewriters (Amounts paid in providing additional equipment and accessories to others in order to make telephone communication possible with those other persons are also allowed as medical expenses.* )
  • external breast prosthesis required because of a mastectomy*
  • extremity pumps or elastic support hose designed exclusively to reduce swelling caused by lymphedema *
  • eyeglasses — prescribed
  • heart monitoring or pacing devices*
  • hospital bed, including prescribed attachments, if required in home*
  • hydraulic wheelchair lifts for a vehicle that has been prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner
  • ileostomy pads and related supplies
  • inductive coupling osteo-genesis stimulators for treating non-union of fractures or aiding in bone fusion*
  • infusion pumps, including disposable peripherals, used in the treatment of diabetes *
  • laryngeal speaking aid
  • needles and syringes*
  • optical scanners or similar devices designed to be used to enable blind persons to read print*
  • orthopedic shoes and boots or shoe or boot inserts if needed to overcome a physical disability*
  • oxygen tent and equipment*
  • portable chest respirator
  • power-operated guided chair installation to be used solely in a stairway*
  • power-operated lifts or transportation equipment designed exclusively for use by or for disabled persons to allow them access to different areas or levels of a building or to assist them to gain access to a vehicle or to place a wheelchair in or on a vehicle*
  • reasonable expenses relating to renovations or alterations to a dwelling of a patient who lacks normal physical development or has a severe and prolonged mobility impairment (one that may be expected to last 12 months or more), to enable the patient to gain access to, or to be mobile or functional within, the dwelling
  • rocking bed for a person with poliomyelitis
  • spinal brace
  • sudden infant death syndrome monitor/alarms*
  • synthetic speech systems, Braille printers, and large print, on-screen devices that enable blind persons to utilize computers*
  • television closed-caption decoders for the deaf*
  • truss for hernia
  • wheelchairs
  • wigs made for individuals who have suffered abnormal hair loss owing to disease, accident, or medical treatment*
  • any apparatus or material — where payment was made directly to a doctor, dentist, nurse, or hospital

  • ambulance charges to or from hospital, or transportation costs to or from hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office to obtain services not otherwise available nearer home
  • birth-control devices, non-prescription
  • birth-control pills (prescription)
  • canadian Red Cross — Home Maker Service
  • costs of an animal specially trained to assist a person who is blind, deaf, or severely impaired in the use of arms or legs. In addition to the cost of the animal, its care and maintenance (including food and veterinary care) are eligible expenses, as are travel expenses to a training facility to learn how to handle the animal.
  • premiums paid to a non-government medical or hospital care plan
  • reasonable expenses relating to rehabilitative therapy, including training in lip-reading and sign language, as incurred to adjust for a patient’s loss of hearing or speech
  • smoking-cessation counselling or weight-loss counselling (if recommended by a physician to treat a specific ailment and provided by a licensed practitioner)
  • tutoring for an individual who has a learning disability or other mental impairment
  • Victorian Order of Nurses — home care

The following are examples of expenses that are not eligible under the HSA:

  • air cleaners, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, or humidifiers
  • antiseptic diaper services
  • athletic club expenses to keep physically fit
  • botulinum infections
  • cosmetic surgery
  • cost of special food or beverages — unless they have no nutritional value and are taken only to treat or alleviate an illness
  • funeral, cremation, or burials, or cemetery plot, monument, or mausoleum
  • hair replacement procedures
  • health programs offered by resort hotels, health clubs, and gyms
  • illegal operations, treatments, or drugs illegally procured
  • liposuction
  • maternity clothes
  • medical expenses for which a member is reimbursed or is entitled to be reimbursed
  • payments to a municipality where the municipality employed a doctor to provide medical services to the residents of the municipality
  • scales for weighing food
  • teeth whitening
  • toothpaste or toothbrushes
  • wigs — unless made to order for individuals who have suffered abnormal hair loss owing to disease, medical treatment, or accident

Personal Spending Account

All receipts must be in the member’s name. Dependents are not eligible under the PSA. Expenses must be for the benefit of and used by the member. There may be certain eligible expenses that will also provide benefits to family members.

Eligible Expenses

The lists below are not exhaustive; please contact Sun Life directly if you are unsure of an eligible expense.

The Personal Spending Account is a taxable benefit. Learn more about how taxable benefits affect your paycheque.

  • fitness club or gym memberships (includes membership to the PAC)
  • registration fees for virtual fitness classes
  • registration fees for fitness-related programs, lessons or courses (such as aerobics, yoga, dance and martial arts)
  • sports team memberships and registration fees
  • annual memberships or daily passes to athletic facilities (such as access to golf courses, racquet clubs and ski hills)
  • personal trainers, fitness consultants, lifestyle consultants and exercise physiologists
  • registration fees for fitness-related events (such as walks, runs and races)
  • recreational activity fees (such as boating fees, camping fees and trail passes)
  • fees for athletic facilities and equipment rental costs
  • fitness-related apps, software and programs
  • hunting and fishing licenses

*Family membership is acceptable if the member is an active fitness centre member or recreational member and providing the membership is under the member’s name.

  • purchase or rental of exercise equipment (such as treadmills, exercise bikes, universal gyms and weights)
  • specialized sports equipment (such as skates, bikes, non-motorized boats, rackets and clubs)
  • fishing gear and supplies, camping gear, tents and sleeping bags
  • jogging or cycling strollers
  • specialized athletic footwear (such as running shoes, golf shoes and swim fins)
  • fitness-related apparel (such as running jackets, cycling shorts and sunglasses)
  • athletic safety equipment (such as helmets, eye protection and mouth guards)
  • fitness tracking tools (including watches) and heart-rate monitors
  • fitness consoles and accessories, DVDs and downloadable work-out videos

  • weight management programs (excluding food)
  • nutrition programs and counselling
  • cholesterol and hypertension screening
  • smoking cessation programs and products
  • maternity services and accessories (such as Doulas, Midwives and classes)
  • services provided by iridologists, herbalists, Chinese medical practitioners and acupressurists
  • other alternative wellness services (such as Reiki, Rolfing and light therapy)
  • stress management programs
  • first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training
  • health, fitness or lifestyle assessments (such as fees for allergy testing, ergonomic assessments and genetic testing)
  • vitamins, supplements, herbal products, blenders and juicers
  • sleeping aids (such as orthopaedic mattresses and pillows, darkening blinds, white noise machines and ear plugs)
  • medical alert products and services
  • personal care items (such as heating pads, thermometers, sunscreen, teeth whitening kits and denture products)
  • life coach services or fees for spiritual or wellness retreats (excludes the cost of travel and accommodations)
  • cosmetic procedures (such as Botox, dermabrasion and tattoo removal)
  • health-related apps, software and programs
  • day-spa services (such as baths, saunas and aesthetic treatments)

  • home office equipment (such as ergonomic chair/desk, and soundproofing barriers) and fees for secure shredding services
  • fees for language training and tutoring
  • fees or dues for professional memberships or associated with maintaining a professional designation
  • hobby or general interest classes and supplies (including cameras)
  • personal computers, accessories and software
  • online courses offered through a recognized educational institution requiring registration
  • internet services (statements used as receipts must include the payment amounts and date)
  • cultural activity passes or tickets (for things like museums, zoos, music concerts, plays, operas and symphonies)
  • lessons, courses, seminars and conferences (including books, instruments, supplies and accessories)
  • hardcover and online reading materials, subscriptions and book club memberships (including e-readers and apps)
  • online audio subscriptions, audiobooks and apps
  • music, music streaming services and apps
  • finance-related apps, software and programs
  • smartphones and tablets

  • public transit passes
  • solar energy and wind energy products
  • energy home audits, cost to upgrade windows, programmable thermostats and weather stripping
  • home insulation materials for heating or cooling
  • air purification systems and installation costs
  • lead pipe and asbestos removal from home
  • composters, rain barrels, recycling bins and recycling fees for atypical items (such as electronics)
  • appliances certified as energy efficient and other energy-efficient products for home heating, cooling and lighting (such as tankless water heaters and compact fluorescent light bulbs)
  • car or bike-sharing memberships and usage fees (excluding fuel costs and repair fees)

  • childcare expenses (includes educational expenses and materials)
  • elder-care expenses
  • food delivery services (does not include the cost of food)
  • pet-care services (such as kenneling, obedience training, dog walking and veterinarian fees)
  • domestic services (such as house cleaning, snow removal, landscaping and moving services)
  • intelligent personal assistant (IPA) devices

  • baby safety equipment
  • first aid products (such as bandages, Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and disinfectant)
  • smoke alarms, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, fire extinguishers and fire escape ladders
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including fees for sanitation, gloves, masks and hand sanitizer, purchased for personal use
  • protective safety equipment (such as safety boots, eye protection and safety gloves)
  • life jackets, bear spray, rescue equipment and avalanche kits
  • home security systems and associated fees

  • estate planning, financial investment counselling and tax return preparation
  • legal expenses (such as wills, divorces, and house purchases or sales)

  • Life and Critical Illness insurance premiums, as well as Long Term Care facility premiums
  • pet insurance premiums

  • Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contributions
  • Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) contributions
  • Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) contributions
  • Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) contributions
  • fraud prevention/assistance and credit monitoring services and products

  • traditional Indigenous Healers, Elders and Knowledge Keepers
  • traditional medicines (such as sweetgrass, sage, cedar, tobacco plant)
  • fees and supplies for Indigenous ceremonies (such as sweat lodges, healing circles, smudge kits)

Claims

View claim procedures including coordination of benefits and submission deadlines.

Coverage and Eligibility

Learn more about:

  • Eligibility and effective date of coverage for you and your dependents.
  • Termination of Coverage
  • Converting your benefits to an individual plan
  • Proof of Coverage for Health and Dental Benefits
  • Premiums

The above information is intended only as a summary of the Health Spending Account with Sun Life Financial policy number 150798 and the summary of your Personal Spending Account with Sun Life Financial policy number 151798. In the event of any misunderstanding or discrepancy, benefits will be paid according to the policy and applicable legislation.

Getting Help

Sun Life Customer Call Centre

Sun Life has a Customer Call Centre that provides information directly related to your benefits, claims submitted and status of your claim. Other questions or scenarios that Sun Life can assist with are:

 1-800-361-6212 during the work week from 8am to 8 pm EST.

Or connect online through your MySunLife account. Visit www.mysunlife.ca and enter your access ID and password.