Sun Life: Health & Personal Spending Accounts (HSA/PSA)

🧾 Overview

As part of your Sun Life benefits, you receive a set amount of funds each year to spend on health and wellness needs.

You have the flexibility to split this money between two accounts:

• Health Spending Account (HSA): For medical costs
• Personal Spending Account (PSA): For lifestyle and wellness costs
  

Annual Allocation

Current Thinkers (hired before this calendar year):

• Amount: $900 per year
• Split: You choose how to split this amount between your HSA and PSA during the November election window

New Thinkers (hired this calendar year):

• Joined Jan 1 - Jun 30: $900 (fixed 50/50 split)
• Joined Jul 1 - Dec 31: $450 (fixed 50/50 split)
  

⚠️ Important

• Funds do not carry over. You must use them by December 31st.
• New hires cannot change their 50/50 split until the next November election window.

🏥 What’s a Health Spending Account (HSA)?

The HSA is a non-taxable account that reimburses you for eligible medical, dental, and vision expenses not fully covered by your standard benefits plan or the government.

🧠 Best for: Thinkers who want to use their funds for strictly medical-related expenses, like:

• Paramedical top-ups (massage, physio, etc)
• Dental work
• Prescription eyewear or laser eye surgery
• Medical devices or supplies

📚 CRA list of eligible HSA expenses »

🧘 What’s a Personal Spending Account (PSA)?

The PSA is a taxable account that supports broader wellness-related expenses like fitness, mental health, and financial wellbeing.

🧠 Best for: Thinkers who want flexibility to use their funds on:

• Gym memberships, fitness equipment
• Health & wellness apps or services
• RRSP/TFSA contributions
• Courses, books, and more

🧾 Tax info: PSA usage is added to your taxable income for the year (e.g. if your salary is $50,000 and you use $300 in PSA, your new taxable income becomes $50,300).

📚 Eligible PSA expenses »

📥 Submitting HSA/PSA Claims

1. Log in to Sun Life and set up direct deposit.
2. Go to Submit a Claim.
3. Choose HSA or PSA based on your allocation.

✅ Example:

• Got $80 reimbursed from benefits for a $100 massage? You can claim the remaining $20 through your HSA.
• Bought a $500 bike? You could claim this through your PSA (if you’ve allocated that amount there).

📊 Checking Your Balance

Log in to the Sun Life mobile app, click Coverage Information, and view your HSA or PSA balance anytime. Once your funds are used up, the account will disappear from your claim options.

🔄 Updating Your Allocation (Annual Election Window)

⚠️ Important: You can only change your HSA/PSA split once a year during the November election window.

We will communicate the exact dates every November. You must submit your changes before the deadline, otherwise your current allocation will be locked in for the entire following year.

How to update (November only):

1. Log into BambooHR [http://thinkific.bamboohr.com]
2. Go to My Info > Personal
3. Scroll to the HSA and PSA fields
4. Update the amounts to your preference (ensure they total your full allocation of $900)

Note: If you are a new hire, you are defaulted to a 50/50 split for your first calendar year. You will be able to customize your split during the next November window.