Beneva Mutual

Who are the members of Beneva Mutual?

The members of the mutual are:

  • Group insurance plan members as well as natural persons who have professional liability insurance under the group plan of the professional order of which they are a member; they are the Group Members.
  • Natural persons who own individual P&C, life and health insurance or annuity contracts; they are the Individual Members. 


      Beneva mutual member categories

Who may participate in Beneva Mutual’s annual meetings?

As a member, you may attend and speak at a Beneva Mutual meetings. To be allowed in a meeting, simply show your insurance certificate or contract number that proves you are a member. Please note that only delegates and directors are entitled to vote at meetings.

What is the delegate's role?

Delegates play a vital role in the Mutual’s democracy.

For example, delegates receive copies of the Board of Directors’ report and the company’s financial statements, and vote to elect directors in their category, when there are vacant positions.

Serving as a delegate means having a voice and contributing to the life and orientations of the mutual!

How does a member become a delegate?

The by-law of Beneva Mutual provides for a delegate designation process. There are 3 member categories.

Category 1: plan members of groups with 700 or more members

Category 2: plan members of groups with fewer than 700 members

Category 3: individual members

The attendees at the annual meeting must be representative of the members of the mutual. The number of Category 1 Group Members is calculated once a year. The number of delegates that can be designated by each Category 1 Group is based on the number of plan members, according to the scale below.

The number of Category 2 Group Members is calculated once a year in order to determine the number of delegates that may be designated, according to the scale below.

Category 1 and 2 plan sponsors (e.g. employers, unions) are sent a notice by email to submit the names of their delegates.*

As for Category 3 Individual Members, they are asked to nominate themselves for the role of delegate using this form. The number of Category 3 delegates is equal to the number of Category 1 and 2 delegates.

 

Delegate Designation Process Example

 

Delegate Designation Process Example

 

All nominations must be received by December 31.

If more nominations than the number of vacant positions are received, a random draw is used to determine who will serve as delegates for Categories 2 and 3.

A notice of meeting is sent to Category 1 delegates and the selected candidates from Categories 2 and 3, as long as they are still eligible, at least 30 days prior to the meeting.

Here is the illustrated Beneva Mutual delegate designation process:

 

SFX: Pleasant music

VO:

Through their commitment, delegates to the Annual General Meeting help to bring our mutual's democracy to life.

Some delegates come from groups of group policyholders, while others are individual members with annuity, property and casualty or personal insurance contracts.

But how do members become delegates?

Let's take a look at the process for our mutual.

On the collective members' side, the number of delegates for each group is determined by the number of members.

We make sure we're truly representative.

Licensees receive an invitation to nominate candidates for the positions to be filled.

At the same time, a notice on Beneva.ca invites individual members to register as delegates.

Registration closes on December 31.

Are we getting too many applications from individual members or from groups of less than 700 people?

A draw is made.

If the delegates are eligible, all that remains is to call them to the annual meeting.

They will then have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

In this way, they will help define the direction of our mutual.

Let's underline their commitment.

Thank you to everyone.

 

Scale: 

Number of insured membersNumber of delegates
700 - 6 0001
6 001 - 12 0002
12 001 - 23 0003
23 001 - 34 0004
34 001 - 45 0005
45 001 - 56 0006
56 001 - 67 0007
67 001 - 78 0008
78 001 - 89 0009
89 001 - 100 00010
100 001 - 111 00011
111 001 - 122 00012
122 001 - 133 00013
133 001 - 144 00014
144 001 - 155 00015
155 001 - 166 00016
166 001 - 177 00017
177 001 - 188 00018
188 001 - 199 00019
Over 199 00020

   

Information concerning Beneva Mutual’s annual meetings as well as those concerning the make-up of the Board of Directors and the director selection process will be posted on the Beneva Mutual website on January 1, 2024.

Information for plan members of TPA plans

All Beneva group plan members are members of the mutual, even if the contract is managed by a third-party administrator (TPA).

However, according to the mutual’s by-law, the plan sponsor is the only one who participates in the delegate designation process. The plan sponsors of TPA group plans can have their plan members added to the Mutual’s member register, by emailing [email protected].

The plan sponsors whose members are in the register may designate one or several candidates as delegates to vote at the annual meetings of Beneva Mutual, the largest mutual in Canada!

*To designate a delegate or nominate a candidate, the plan sponsor must send to Beneva Mutual, as per standard procedure and by the prescribed deadline, the name and contact information of the member(s) they are designating/nominating.