Ever jump into a pool and the water was ice cold? Everything looked good on the surface but the second you jumped in – big mistake. Neck deep. Shocked to the core. Searching for a way to get out.

The same can be said of traditional employee benefit plans. Small and mid-size business owners in Saskatoon jump into a plan and the rates jump soon after – often when they are grappling with other hikes to their wages, utilities, inputs and rents.

According to Collin Willms with Aurora Workplace Solutions, a real “pooled plan” can help employers avoid these dramatic and unexpected shocks: “The premiums are based on the average of claims across all participants. When claims are bundled together with thousands of similar businesses in a pool, premiums stay manageable and predictable.”

That’s why many businesses turn to Chambers Plan, a Canadian owned and operated not-for-profit employee benefits plan built specifically for small to medium-sized businesses. With a focus on long-term stability and pooling strategies designed to help manage renewal volatility, the average renewal increase has remained under 5% over the last decade. In Saskatchewan, the average renewal in 2026 was 3.53%, even lower than last year’s average renewal of 4.58%.

“A pooled plan like Chambers Plan means that if one business experiences a higher-than-average number of claims, the costs are shared across the entire pool, preventing drastic premium increases for that specific company,” explains Jewelian Berry at Wiegers Benefits. “By pooling premium and claims, insurers can also offer more stable rates for all participating groups, regardless of their individual claims history.”

In addition to Health and Dental pooling options, Chambers Plan also pools premiums for Life, AD&D, Disability, and Critical Illness benefits. The only adjustments made to these benefits are age-based demographic increases, rather than changes tied to a company’s individual claims experience.

“At the end of the day, benefits pooling is the best way for small and mid-size businesses to attract great people, retain talent, and increase their margins,” says Berry. “Most importantly, it gives employers peace of mind from the first minute they jump in.”

Learn more at www.chamberplan.ca/local.