Wellness Spending Account

There has recently been a steady increase in the understanding for the need for physical and mental wellness in the community and in the workplace. Overall wellness is important not only to your employee, but it can affect you, as their employer, as well.

A Wellness Spending Account (WSA)  is an opportunity for employers to support their employee’s wellness through the allocation of benefit dollars for non-medical, wellness expenses.

Each employee is given a certain amount of benefit dollars each year that they can spend on various health and wellness costs. They are then able to allocate a certain portion of their total benefit dollars towards wellness spending and to spend those dollars on those things most important to them. The benefits that are available to an employee can include gym membership, fitness equipment, sports fees or lessons, child or elder care, as well as pet care or insurance.

Similar to a Healthcare Spending Account (HSA), a Wellness Spending Account (WSA) is an allocation of benefit dollars by the employer to the employee. While both are tax deductible by the company, according to the CRA, benefits under a wellness spending account are considered taxable income to the employees.

Pricing: Employers only pay for the actual, qualified expenses, up to the allowable maximum, plus a 7.5% administration fee and applicable taxes.

For a sample list of qualified expenses, please click here.