Replacing an employee in Canada now costs an average of $30,680. That number comes from a 2026 Express Employment Professionals survey of more than 500 Canadian hiring decision-makers, and it’s up from $29,234 the year before. Multiply that across a few departures in a single year, and the numbers add up quickly.

Skipping a benefits plan can feel like a reasonable way to keep costs down. The numbers tell a different story.

Why Employees Leave and What Benefits Have to Do With It

Pay is still the number one reason Canadian employees change jobs. But benefits are a close second. A 2025 Conference Board of Canada survey found that 58 percent of employees cited better benefits as a reason they left for another employer. That’s more than half the workforce making decisions based on coverage, not just compensation.

The same research found that nearly a third of organizations now list attracting and retaining talent as their number one priority for their benefits program. That’s a big shift in how employers are thinking about what a benefits plan is for.

When someone leaves, the costs go well beyond the recruiting fees. Here’s where the money typically goes:

• Job postings, recruiter fees, and screening time

• Lost productivity while the role is vacant

• The time existing team members spend covering the gap

• Onboarding and training the new hire

• The ramp-up period before the new person is fully productive

For a mid-level role, some estimates put the full cost of replacement at anywhere from 50 to 200 percent of that employee’s annual salary. A $30,680 average is almost certainly on the conservative side for skilled or senior positions.

The ROI of a Benefits Plan

Group benefits in Canada typically cost between $130 and $300 per employee per month, depending on the plan design and the size of the group. That works out to roughly $1,500 to $3,600 per employee per year.

Set that against an average turnover cost of $30,680, and the math shifts considerably. Retaining one employee who might otherwise have left for better benefits pays for years of coverage.

The less obvious return is what a benefits plan does before anyone thinks about leaving. Employees with access to good health coverage, mental health support, and financial protection tend to show up more consistently, stay more focused, and feel more connected to the organization they work for.

What Employees Are Looking For Right Now

The conversation around benefits has shifted. Employees are still interested in dental and extended health, but the plans that stand out in 2026 are the ones that feel relevant to real life.

Mental health coverage, health spending accounts, wellness allowances, and virtual care access are showing up consistently as priorities for Canadian workers. A plan that addresses how people are really living tends to land better than one that covers the basics and stops there.

The good news for employers who are hesitant about cost: a well-designed plan doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. Spending accounts in particular let employees self-direct toward what matters to them, which means the money goes further without requiring a major budget commitment.

The Competitive Reality

Almost 1 in 3 Canadian hiring managers expect employee turnover to increase in 2026. In that environment, the employers who are easier to stay with have a real advantage over the ones who are easier to leave.

A group benefits plan is one of the more straightforward ways to signal that an organization is invested in the people who work there. That signal matters during hiring, and it matters even more once someone is already on the team.

If you’re weighing the cost of offering benefits against the cost of losing people, the numbers tend to point in the same direction. A Quinn advisor can help you look at what a plan would cost for your team and what it would take to build something that works for your business.