Death and terminal illness

Dealing with death is a difficult time. We’re here to help you – whether you are the family member of a UBC employee who has died or if you are a UBC employee facing the death of one of your dependents.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • If you are the beneficiary of a UBC employee who has died, you may be entitled to receive a life insurance payment. If you are the named beneficiary of a UBC employee’s pension plan, you are entitled to a death benefit.
  • If you are the dependent spouse or child of a UBC employee who has died and have been receiving benefit coverage through UBC, your benefit coverage will expire a certain time after the employee’s death. You have the option of enrolling in the Retirement and Survivor Benefit program within 31 days of your coverage ending; this program provides extended health and dental coverage for a monthly cost.
  • If you are a UBC employee providing care or support to an eligible family member who has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks, you are eligible for an unpaid compassionate care leave. You can also apply for EI benefits to receive some income during this period.
  • If your spouse held Optional Life Insurance through UBC and has died, please contact us to initiate a claim.
  • If your dependent spouse or child has died, you will need to notify Sun Life and remove them from your benefit plan.
  • You may need to name new beneficiaries for your life insurance and pension.
  • Counselling and support is always available through UBC’s Employee and Family Assistance Program.

Death of an employee

Life insurance

If you were enrolled in UBC’s Basic Group Life Insurance Plan or Optional Life Insurance, on your death, your designated beneficiary will receive a sum of money (benefit). Your beneficiary will not have to pay tax on this amount. Your beneficiary can contact UBC Benefits to initiate the claim.

Pension

If you were enrolled in the UBC Faculty Pension Plan or UBC Staff Pension Plan, your designated beneficiary will be paid a benefit in the event of your death. Your beneficiary can contact the UBC Staff Pension Plan or UBC Faculty Pension Plan to claim the death benefit.

How long will dependents retain benefits coverage with UBC?

Extended Health and Dental Plans

If you are a staff member, Extended Health and Dental benefits coverage for your surviving dependents will end at the end of the month that you die. 

If you are a faculty member, health benefits coverage for your surviving dependents will end three months from the first of the month following the date of your death.

Your surviving dependents will have 90 days from the date their coverage ends to submit any claims you incurred prior to your death to Sun Life for reimbursement.

Employee and Family Assistance Program

EFAP coverage for surviving dependents ends three months from the first of the month following the date you die.

What health benefits plan is available for surviving dependents?

UBC Retirement and Survivor Benefits (RSB) Program offers the continuation of group benefits to your surviving family members who were eligible for benefits. Dependents must pay a monthly premium cost and enrol within 31 days of their UBC benefits ending.

Death or terminal illness of a dependent

Compassionate care leave

If you are providing care or support to an eligible family member who has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks (as certified by a medical practitioner), you are eligible for up to eight weeks of unpaid compassionate care leave.

When you apply for a compassionate care leave, you can also apply for Employment Insurance (EI) compassionate care benefits from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). EI benefits are payable for up to 26 weeks. If you are a Postdoctoral Fellow Award Recipient, you are not eligible for EI benefits.

Compassionate or bereavement leave

Depending on your employee group, you may be eligible to take paid compassionate or bereavement leave if a family member passes away.

Optional life insurance

If your spouse or dependent child has passed away and was covered for Optional Spouse or Optional Dependent Life insurance, please contact UBC Benefits. We will the initiate the life insurance claim and advise you of next steps.

Removing a spouse or dependent child from your benefits

If your spouse or dependent child has passed away, you will need to cancel their benefit coverage for UBC Extended Health, Dental Care and the Employee and Family Assistance Program. If applicable, you must also cancel their Optional Life/AD&D coverage. You can remover someone from your UBC benefits plan in Workday. For more information visit Making Enrolment Changes page. 

You have 90 days from the date their coverage ends to submit any claims your dependent incurred prior to their death to Sun Life for reimbursement. You can find claim forms on our Forms page.

Life insurance and pension

You may want to name your spouse or partner as the beneficiary on your life insurance through UBC (Basic and/or Optional Life). You can do this in Workday. For more information visit Making Enrolment Changes page.  

To change the beneficiary of your pension:

For UBC Staff Pension Plan members: Visit the Naming a Beneficiary page to review relevant information.

For UBC Faculty Pension Plan members: Visit the Designating your Beneficiary page to review relevant information.

Counselling support through UBC’s Employee and Family Assistance Program

UBC’s Employee and Family Assistance Plan offers free and confidential counselling and support available in-person and by phone, web or mobile app. In addition to counselling, TELUS Health offers WorkLife Services that can assist you in areas of family, financial and legal support.

Disclaimer

The benefits information on this website is provided as a descriptive summary only. While the University has endeavored to accurately reflect its benefit programs, policies and plans, the information on this website does not create any contractual or other rights between the University and its faculty and staff members. To the extent that there are any conflicts or discrepancies between the benefits information on this website and the benefit plan documents (including group insurance contracts and benefit booklets) or any applicable collective agreement, employment agreement, or UBC policy, the benefit plan documents and collective agreement, employment agreement, or UBC policy will govern in all cases.

UBC Crest The official logo of the University of British Columbia. Urgent Message An exclamation mark in a speech bubble. Caret An arrowhead indicating direction. Arrow An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Time A clock. Chats Two speech clouds. E-commerce Cart A shopping cart. Facebook The logo for the Facebook social media service. Home A house in silhouette. Information The letter 'i' in a circle. Instagram The logo for the Instagram social media service. Linkedin The logo for the LinkedIn social media service. Location Pin A map location pin. Locked A locked padlock. Mail An envelope. Menu Three horizontal lines indicating a menu. Minus A minus sign. Pencil A pencil indicating that this is editable. Telephone An antique telephone. Play A media play button. Plus A plus symbol indicating more or the ability to add. Search A magnifying glass. Settings A single gear. Speech Bubble A speech bubble. Star An outline of a star. Twitter The logo for the Twitter social media service. Unlocked An unlocked padlock. User A silhouette of a person. Vimeo The logo for the Vimeo video sharing service. Youtube The logo for the YouTube video sharing service.