Description of Benefits

Long Term Disability insurance is wage replacement insurance, which provides you a monthly income if you become so totally disabled by a Non-Occupational accidental bodily injury or disease while insured under this plan and under the age of 65 that you can no longer work for your living.  Long Term Disability insurance covers you for those total disabilities that last beyond the period covered by the Short Term Weekly Wage Replacement Plan.  This benefit does not apply to Dependents.

Definition of Total Disability: You will be considered "totally disabled" during the qualifying period and the next 52 weeks of a period of disability if you are incapacitated to the extent that solely because of a Non-Occupational disease or Non-Occupational accidental bodily injury, you are unable to work at your own occupation.  Your own occupation means the type of work in which you were engaged and is not limited to the actual job you were performing prior to the start of a period of total disability.  After this 52 week period, and during the same period of disability, you are totally disabled only if you are unable, solely because of disease or accidental bodily injury, to work at any reasonable occupation.  A reasonable occupation means any gainful activity for which you are, or may reasonably become, qualified by education, training or experience.  Such disability must result from a medically determinable physical or mental impairment.

Maximum Period of Payment

You will be eligible for your first income payment from the plan after you have completed the qualifying period, which is the first 182 days of a period of total disability, or the duration of the Weekly Wage Replacement benefit, whichever is greater, plus any E.I. period if applicable.  However, you will not receive an income payment if you reach age 65 before you complete the qualifying period.

After completing the qualifying period, you will be eligible for income payments during the continuance of a period of total disability for a maximum of 5 years, or to Retirement, or to age 65, if either occurs before 5 years.

A period of total disability is considered to cease:

1. when you commence work at a reasonable occupation;
2. when you fail to furnish proof of the continuance of total disability or refuse to be examined by a Physician;
3. when you cease to be under the care of a Physician;
4. the date of your death.

Amount of Monthly Income

The Long Term Disability benefit will be payable monthly in the amount specified in the “SUMMARY OF BENEFITS”. 
The benefit is taxable however no tax will be withheld from your monthly payments.  You will receive a T4A for all paid amounts by the end of February of the following year.

All Source Maximum

If your monthly payments under the Long Term Disability benefit together with any other income to which you may be entitled under:

1. the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan excluding any increase in benefit solely for cost of living purposes and effective after payments of the Long Term Disability benefit under this plan commences, and excluding CPP/QPP benefits paid to you on behalf of your Dependents;
2. any disability benefits provided under any group insurance or any other arrangement of coverage for individuals in a group;
3. income received from any employer or from any occupation for compensation or profit;

exceed, in the aggregate, 85% of your normal earnings; payments under this benefit will be reduced so that your monthly payments together with all other disability payments or compensations as described above will not exceed 85% of your normal gross monthly earnings.  Your normal gross monthly earnings will be determined from the hourly rate in effect for your normal workweek as determined from the Collective Agreement in effect when your disability commenced. 

Normal gross monthly earnings do not include overtime pay, bonuses, or any other extra compensation.   A retroactive change in the rate of earnings shall be deemed to be effective on the date of the determination of the change in the rate of earnings. The gross benefit amount shall be reduced by the amount of the excess.