COVID-19 Update for S&C Canada Team Members

Over the past couple of weeks, S&C has taken many steps to ensure the health and safety of team members. We have implemented extra hygiene measures, switched to working remotely (where possible) and increased social distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

At this time, S&C would like to turn your attention to your well-being. Below you will find some information and direction to resources that you can reference to maintain wellness for yourself, your family and the community. Also, there has been some updated information regarding Out of Country (OOC) coverage that is part of our Extended Health Care (EHC) travel benefit under SunLife benefit plan.

Mental & Physical Wellness
Tips to Stay Well

• It is normal to feel sad, stressed, confused, scared or angry during a crisis.
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle, including proper diet, sleep, exercise and social contacts is important during this time. Talk to people you trust can help.
• Try to limit worry and agitation by lessening the time you and your family spend watching or listening to the media coverage that you perceive as upsetting. 
• Be careful not to use food, smoking, alcohol or other drugs to deal with your emotions. 
• Contact LifeWorks at 877-307-1080 or login.lifeworks.com (user ID: sandc; password: fuse) for support and resources available to you and your family.
• More information is available here.

Financial Wellness

COVID-19 has disrupted people's everyday lives and the financial markets. How long will this major downturn last is anyone's guess, but when such a situation occurs, we often witness another phenomenon that is just as viral: a feeling of doubt, and even panic, among investors.

Everybody knows, though, that panic can cause people to make rash decisions that they later regret. To learn more about the good practices to adopt in a context of stock market instability, S&C is re-sharing the article sent by iA, our Retirement & Saving program service provider.

Please reach out to your financial advisor if you have questions or concerns. More information is available here.

 
Social Wellness

The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus is to protect yourself, your family and the community.

To help educate plan members about COVID-19 and how it may impact them, Sun Life is continuously sharing information on the my Sun Life mobile app, mysunlife.ca, and on sunlife.ca. They have also launched a dedicated page for plan members at sunlife.ca that we will continually update with the latest information. More information is available here.

 
Travel – OOC

In February, SunLife announced administrative exceptions for OOC claims effective February 1, 2020. Due to the rapidly evolving situation of COVID-19, this is changing.

For travellers leaving Canada on or after March 19, 2020, SunLife will not apply the administrative exceptions announced in February. This step supports the Government of Canada’s efforts to prevent non-essential travel. More information is available here.