The Benefits Tree

Your UBC Extended Health Plan will reimburse you and your eligible dependents for some or all of the cost of many healthcare services that are not covered by BC’s Medical Services Plan. For example, you and your dependents can access an annual maximum of $1,000 (effective January 1, 2024) for massage therapy and physiotherapy services (note: reimbursement is based on reasonable and customary charges).

But your Extended Health Plan doesn't stop there. You can also claim reimbursements for many paramedical and other healthcare costs including prescription drugs and vision care. Through your UBC Dental Benefits Plan, you can access coverage for regular dental check-ups, orthodontics, and even root canals — to name a few.

To manage your mental health, UBC’s extended health benefits plan provides 100% coverage based on reasonable and customary charges for licensed psychologists, social workers or registered clinical counsellors up to a maximum of $3,000 for each person per benefit year (includes counselling services and psychological testing).

You can also access support and counselling through our Employee and Family Assistance Program, which is a confidential and voluntary counselling support service that provides you and your family with the help you need to resolve a wide range of personal, work, health or life issues. in addition to counselling, there are also online resources including articles, podcasts, videos and learning opportunities.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist or social worker, here are some tips to help you choose.

If you are enrolled in UBC's Extended Health Plan you have access to Emergency Medical Travel Insurance services that include:

• referring you to a medical facility, physician or pharmacist,
• confirming your coverage and benefits,
• facilitating payments to a hospital or medical provider, whenever possible,
• monitoring the medical situation if you are hospitalized, and
• overseeing your transfer to a different hospital or treatment facility, or transport home if it is determined to be safe to do so.

A medical emergency is an acute illness or accidental injury that requires immediate, medically necessary treatment prescribed by a doctor. This could include:

• a sudden, unexpected injury;
• an acute episode of a medical condition that was not identified or being treated before you left BC; or
• an unexpected and unforeseen acute episode of a previously identified medical condition that was stable and controlled when you left BC.

UBC faculty and staff can access exclusive discounts for aged care, pet health, fitness, mental health, technology, and more through our benefits partners: Sun Life’s Marketplace, and Lumino Health. These perks are also available for any dependents covered under your Extended Health plan.

To access Sun Life and Lumino Health, simply login to Sun Life member website and look for the Marketplace and Lumino Health Community options on the main page. You’ll find special offers sorted by a variety of categories making it easy to access the discounts that are most relevant to you and your family.  

This article — Take a peek at your perks — looks closer at the most popular perks, to help get you started. 

The Faculty Pension Plan (FPP) is a defined contribution pension plan designed to help you save and invest for your future. 

The UBC FPP is available to eligible faculty members, administrative executive personnel and staff high earners.

In this Plan, you and your employer make contributions to your account, and you are responsible for making investment decisions. Your pension income is based on the assets in your account at the time of your retirement, so it’s important to focus on growing your UBC FPP account balance during your working years, in order to help achieve your retirement goals.

The UBC Staff Pension Plan (SPP) is a target benefit plan and is among the most valued benefits provided to eligible staff members. It’s designed to help you save for your future with the purpose of giving you a stable lifetime retirement pension.

In this Plan, you and your employer make fixed contributions to help fund the overall pension plan, and you do not have to make investment decisions. When you decide to retire, your pension is calculated according to a formula based on the amount of pensionable service you’ve accrued, and your best average earnings.

Your Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) gives you access to a range of Work, life, and health counselling supports. 

With GreenShield, eligible faculty, staff and their dependents can access:

• Unlimited financial and legal consultations, 
• Up to 5 hours (annually*) of access to health and nutrition support
• Up to 5 hours (annually*) for career and retirement transition coaching 
• And up to 5 hours (annually*) for life transition consultations.

*Annual maximum resets every November

These supports from our EFAP provider, GreenShield Health, are not intended to be a full-service offering, particularly if you are dealing with a complex case. These services are a great way to get short- and medium-term assistance and to discuss, with the Green Shield Health professional, what additional services are needed to fully assist you across your Family, Health, Money, Life, and Work issues.

Building a family is one of the biggest life events you will experience. That is why UBC provides financial support through Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB)  top-up to support new parents, as well as a range of family-building benefits to help reduce the financial strain of fertility treatments, as well as the costs associated with surrogacy and adoption. 

Optional Life insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance help to create greater financial security for you and your beneficiaries by supplementing your basic insurance plans.

You can purchase Optional Life Insurance to a maximum of $750,000 for both you and your spouse. Your dependent children are automatically approved for Optional Life Insurance if you are enrolled in the plan.

UBC’s Optional Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage will pay a sum of money to a beneficiary if you or your spouse who is also enrolled in the plan are the victim of an accident that results in the loss of life, limb, sight or hearing.

Certain executive staff and faculty appointments can access relocation benefits to offset moving, travel, and tax-related expenses.

The relocation is administered through the Central Relocation Fund, which supports eligible faculty and senior management moving to Metro Vancouver to work at the Vancouver Campus or to the Kelowna area to work at the Okanagan Campus.

The amount of reimbursement from the fund depends on where the individual or family is moving from and on the number of dependents relocating.

UBC is a global centre for teaching, learning and research, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world. Make the most of this incredible teaching institution by taking courses at UBC, and reducing the cost with our Tuition Waiver program 

Use your tuition waivers to access up to 12 credits for UBC courses or the dollar equivalent at UBC Extended Learning or Sauder Continuing Business Studies, every 12 months.

Fund your career aspirations by accessing professional development (PD) funds. These PD funds can enhance knowledge, work performance, and career growth at UBC.

Faculty can claim reimbursement for professional development expenses that enhance the performance, ability, or effectiveness of a member’s work at the University. 

For staff, funds can be used for a variety of professional development activities that will enhance your role-related knowledge, skills and performance as well as contribute to your career growth at the university.

UBC onboarding, professional development courses, wellbeing workshops, and required training are housed together in one central location — the Workplace Learning Ecosystem (CWL required) — so you can find what you need and explore what's available.

Today’s learning opportunities come in a variety of forms and styles, with something to suit every learner. UBC encourages all faculty and staff to further their professional and personal development by taking part in our learning and leadership opportunities.

Faculty and staff also have access to LinkedIn Learning courses, to supplement and support continued learning growth. 

Faculty association members can take study leave, which permits a member of the Faculty Association in a tenure/confirm stream position to pursue study or research of benefit to the individual and the university. 

Individuals should not be asked to take on additional duties at UBC during that time, whether with pay or not. The percentage of academic salary paid while on study leave is dependent on the years of service accrued towards leave and the length of the leave.