Trust Governance
Trust Funds & Investments
Contributions are received by the Trust and used to pay claims for Extended Health, Dental, and AD&D, Group Life and LTD. Contributions also include amounts intended to build reserves for future claims, especially LTD. These reserves are invested through the Healthcare Investment Unit Trust (HIUT).
The HIUT is made up of the Joint Facilities Benefits Trust (JFBT), the Joint Health Science Benefits Trust (JHSBT), the Joint Community Benefits Trust (JCBT), and the Healthcare Benefits Trust (HBT). These Trusts are able to set their own investment strategies but are regarded as a single client by the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCi).
The JCBT investment strategy is set out in its Statement of Investment Policies & Procedures (SIPP).
Financial Status of the Trust
Investment of Trust Assets
The JCBT receives contributions from employers and some plan members. These contributions are used to pay benefits costs and to build reserves for future LTD claim costs. Reserves are invested with BCi through the HIUT. The JCBT asset allocation is set out in the Statement of Investment Policies & Procedures.
Audited Financial Statements
Contributions received, investment returns earned, money paid out for benefits and the costs of running the Trust are present in the Audited Financial Statements.
Actuarial Valuation Reports
The Plan’s actuary, George & Bell, review the Trust’s liabilities (i.e. obligations to pay benefits to beneficiaries) and the Plan’s assets (i.e. contributions received and investment returns received) to determine the Trust’s funded status. The Actuarial Valuation Report presents this information.
A high-level summary of the Trust’s investments, finances and funded status are presented in the Annual Report:
Service Providers
The JCBT Trustees have engaged a number of service providers to manage the operation of the Trust.
Pursuant to the Joint Community Benefits Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated April 1, 2017 (Trust Agreement) the Trustees have the authority to retain a third party administrator to administer the benefits and to delegate their administrative duties to such an administrator.
The Trustees have retained the Healthcare Benefit Trust (HBT) as the third party administrator and have delegated to HBT the liaison with and coordination of the activities of the claims paying agents and insurers on behalf of the Board, as well as other responsibilities, including financial accounting and liaison with the auditors.
The Trustees have retained Pacific Blue Cross (PBC) and the Canada Life Assurance Company (CL) as claims paying agents, to carry out the claims adjudication and claims payment functions in respect of the Plan’s benefits. Canada Life is also the Group Life and AD&D claims paying agent.
The Trustees have retained George & Bell (G&B) as actuaries, to monitor and report on the funded status of the Trust. The actuaries annually estimate the Plan’s liabilities (obligations to plan members) and assets to assess the funded status of the trust.
The Trustees have appointed KPMG as auditors for the Trust.
The Trust’s assets are invested in the Healthcare Investment Unit Trust (HIUT). The HIUT uses the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCi) to manage its investments.
The Trustees’ legal counsel is Hatch Law.
