Frequently Asked Questions

How would my Council and students benefit from being a member of The Campus Trust?

1. Flexibility - The Trust provides you with flexibility in the direct underwriting, administration, and governance of your benefit plan. You can directly make changes to how your benefit plan is delivered to your fellow students.
2. Security - Given The Campus Trust’s affiliation with Canada’s leading insurance companies, you will receive all that is promised to your students. Utilizing professional advisors, the Trust is a trustworthy provider in a market that is often difficult to comprehend. The insurance industry is notorious for dubious brokers and the Trust provides a means to protect against such companies taking advantage of your student population.
3. Knowledge - The Campus Trust will work with you every step of the way to thoroughly and actively provide education to you and your organization on insurance related matters. As a decision maker, you have the information and knowledge necessary to craft a benefit plan in your students’ best interest. Student leaders are provided with the tools to govern and develop their student benefit plan.
4. Empowerment - As a member of The Campus Trust, you have direct control over how your Health Plan is structured. Student groups are often faced with situations where they have no say in the rates and structure of their plans, often because their partners will only offer a single suite of benefits for a quoted price. With the Trust, your plan can be customized to meet your needs.
5. Economy - The bottom line of The Campus Trust is that it provides very competitive rates as a result of its purchasing power. Since it is not just your school, but also multiple schools, who are members of The Campus Trust, you receive the benefit of approaching insurance companies as a single entity made up of many more students than just your campus. Thus, you attain the benefits of purchasing in high volume, resulting in lower premiums and better services.
6. Service - Unlike other providers, the Trust provides service, wherever possible, on a regional basis. Having a dedicated administrator for your plan, you are assured that your plan is kept up to date with ongoing changes in the industry. As a campus leader, you are not alone in your insurance decisions with the Trust.

Relative to other providers of similar services, what makes the Trust my best choice?

1. Owned and Governed by Students - The Campus Trust is the only health and benefit provider that is owned and governed by students. Thus, its direction is motivated by what its member organizations need, not a group of insurance intermediaries removed from the realities of running a student organization.
2. Ownership of Assets from sophisticated underwriting - Given the relatively small size of individual student organizations, they are usually underwritten to allow for fewer privileges than a larger organization would capture. The Campus Trust members have access to the highest standards of insurance underwriting through the Trust, standards reserved only for large sponsors of benefit plans. The implication of such underwriting is that student groups have direct ownership of the reserves that accumulate. Reserves belong to the student group and not to the insurance broker or company.
3. Flexibility of Participation - Member organizations are not bound by long term contracts. If an organization feels that the Trust is not appropriate for them, they are free to leave the Trust at any time.
4. Education and Knowledge - The degree of interaction and cooperation with the Trust’s professional advisors is unparalleled for any student organization benefit provider in Canada. The nature of the education and knowledge is objective in nature, rather than being presented to try to sell you something. There is no incentive for the administrator to do so.
5. Transparency - The Campus Trust is committed to complete operating transparency and will make all its operating mechanisms as clear as necessary to member schools.
6. Lower Costs - The simple fact that multiple schools are approaching insurance companies for benefit packages ensures that the Trust captures lower costs for its member schools.

What commitment, financially and otherwise, is required on my part and the part of my Council, to be a member of the Trust?

1. Setting the Health Plan fee prior to collecting it from your membership and remitting it to the Trust on a periodic basis
2. Funding the benefit plan properly
3. Participation in board meetings and its working committees
4. Willingness to learn about how the Trust works, in order to actively manage it for your members

What kind of 'infrastructure' is provided to my Council by the Trust?

1. Education by professional advisors and Trustees
2. Access to professional management (actuaries, consultants, and auditors)
3. Peer Network - Leaders from other student organizations from across Canada are in the same situation as you and likely are able to provide answers from a perspective that you can relate to
4. Financial Management Reports - Analytical reports on your benefit plan are provided to you annually by your administrator
5. On-Campus Administration - On-campus health plan related services are provided under the guidance and training of the Trust

Where do the Health and Dental Plan fees that are collected go?

Fees are used to pay claims and administration expenses and, if necessary, fund appropriate reserves. A full financial accounting for the benefit plan claims, administration, and reserves is provided annually. Management reports, which are indicative of the future performance of your benefit plan, are provided monthly.

What is the structure of the Trust? Who are all the players involved?

A Board of Trustees, selected from the participating organizations, governs the Trust. The Board consists of five student positions and five staff/employee positions. The right to appoint a Trustee is rotated equally, among all of the participating organizations. In addition, the Trust also operates a Communications Committee and a Finance Committee, consisting of representation from participating organizations.

The Trust retains a professional administration firm as well as a consultant, actuary, auditor, legal counsel, and various insurance companies to assist with the delivery of benefits and services to its members.

How do we ensure the Trust continues to provide us the best possible Health and Dental insurance plans?

The Board structure ensures that the consultant, actuary, auditor, and legal counsel provide the optimum service and coverage for member organizations at a fair cost. Together with these internal monitoring mechanisms, Trustees also investigate alternative forms of benefits in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the Trust.