When a plan member wants to lose weight but doesn’t know where to start or is unsure what their benefits plan covers, it can feel like a game of snakes and ladders, said Eveline Keable, strategic leader of health, wellness and disability for group benefits and retirement solutions at iA Financial Group, during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Vancouver Benefits Summit.

“Maybe it can go well at the beginning, but with no structure, they may fall lower than where they were before. It’s discouraging and they may stop the program.” 

Weight management programs are complex, requiring plenty of creativity and a holistic approach. But they can also be highly effective, lessening the health impacts of comorbid conditions and reducing disability leave incidence and duration. These programs can also improve employee engagement, she added.

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Three in five Canadians are living with excess weight, according to 2022 data from Statistics Canada, and the prevalence is expected to continue to grow, said Keable. However, obesity isn’t typically the primary cause of someone’s disability leave and instead, often appears as a secondary condition to issues such as depression, back or knee problems or cardiovascular disease.

“But behind that, . . . obesity brings the person to disability.” 

While the new class of anti-obesity medications have generated plenty of attention, they alone aren’t sufficient as a weight-management program. She said iA has found plan members who exclusively take drugs often stop taking them after about two years, due to side-effects.

These programs also need to support plan members in making sustainable lifestyle changes and address common barriers to doing so, said Keable. Many plan members are unsure of how to get started or feel stymied by the cost of weight-management drugs or working with professionals such as dieticians and lifestyle coaches.

Read: Weight management drug claims up 90.6% in 2024: report

Benefits plans often already include many elements of a successful plan, she said, such as an employee assistance program or cognitive behavioural therapy, paramedical practitioner coverage and, in some cases, coverage for weight management medication through the drug plan.

On the disability side, Keable recommended the initial assessment include a complete physical assessment, an understanding of a plan member’s social environment, psychological health and sleep, exercise and eating habits, in order to build a personalized plan. She also stressed the importance of reducing stigma to ensure disability case managers can build trusting relationships and find the best approach to improving members’ health and getting them back to work.

The program also needs to keep the member motivated, she said, noting providing education on the reason behind each component of the plan can help them stick with it, as can understanding their personal goals and connecting the plan back to them. Ongoing psychological support and a plan member’s support network are also key to their success, she added.

Read more coverage of the 2025 Vancouver Benefits Summit.