HSA
Health Spending Account
The tax-free essential. Control your costs while giving employees 100% tax-free coverage.
100% Tax-Free
Paying for health and dental out of pocket? Your corporation can reimburse you and your employees for eligible expenses completely tax-free.
$0 Monthly Premiums
Stop paying for coverage that's not used. Only fund claims after they've occurred and are approved. No use-it-or-lose-it.
Family Coverage
One flat annual fee covers the plan holder, their spouse, and all dependants for every eligible expense.
No Category Limits
All plan holders can spend their limits how they want. Use 100% on laser eye surgery or orthodontics if necessary. No $500 caps for vision or dental.
What is an HSA?
A Health Spending Account (HSA) is a flexible benefit plan your business can use to reimburse health and dental expenses for yourself and your employees, up to a pre-set annual limit.
When structured correctly, an HSA qualifies as a Private Health Services Plan (PHSP) under CRA guidelines. That means reimbursements are tax-free for you and your team and fully deductible to the business.
You Set the Rules. We Handle the Admin.
A simple model that gives you control, and employees flexibility.
Digital Setup: Complete your business profile and plan structure entirely online.
Classes & Limits: Group employees by role and set a unique annual limit for each class.
Plan Rules: Customize your effective date and decide if you want to allow unused funds to carry forward to the next year.
Spend Normally: Employees pay for health and dental services out of pocket as usual.
Instant Digital Submission: Submit receipts digitally, whether it’s a photo of a paper slip or a PDF, in less than 60 seconds.
Automated Funding: We verify the claim, debit the exact amount from your business account, and reimburse the employee directly.
Real-time Reporting: Monitor usage levels instantly to track your budget and inform future planning.
Accounting Ready: Download invoices and clean CSV exports at any point in time.
Usage Insights: Analyze spending patterns to see if your current limits are sufficient or if your team needs a change in coverage.
Smart Coverage. Zero Waste.
A Health Spending Account makes every dollar count.
Group Benefits
Hiveworks HSA
Cost Structure
Financial Risk
Value
Flexibility
Scalability
Eligible HSA Expenses
A Health Spending Account covers 50+ practitioner types and 100+ expense types with no pre-set category limits.
Health Practitioners
You can claim visits to a wide range of licensed health and dental professionals. Some of the most common being:
Dentist / Orthodontist
Registered Massage Therapist
Chiropractor
Optometrist
Physiotherapist
Psychologist / Psychotherapist
Over 50 practitioner types are covered and eligibility varies by province
Medical Expenses
Beyond health services, your HSA also covers a wide range of eligible products, procedures, and medical equipment. Some of the most common being:
Prescription Drugs and Medications
Orthodontic Work / Braces
Vision (prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses)
Orthopaedic Shoes and Inserts
CPAP Machines and Breathing Devices
Hearing Aids and Assistive Listening Devices
Mobility Aids
Laser Eye Surgery
Premiums Paid to Group Health or Dental Plans
If you or your spouse have existing health and dental coverage, the premiums you are paying for those plans may be eligible expenses under your HSA
Over 100 medical expenses are eligible under CRA rules
Eligibility
To open a Hiveworks Health Spending Account you must meet this criteria.
Incorporated in Canada
The plan must be sponsored by a legal Canadian corporation.
Pays T4 income to one or more arm’s-length employees
Employees must receive T4 income to establish a valid employer-employee relationship for CRA purposes.
The HSA is structured as a formal employment benefit
The plan must be offered as part of the employee’s compensation package and apply uniformly within each employee class.
Sets and maintains reasonable annual limits by class
Annual reimbursement limits must be defined by employee class (for example, Owners, Managers, Associates) and remain consistent for all employees within that class. Limits should align with compensation levels and job roles, typically within 10 - 15% of salary, to ensure the benefit is fair and compliant.
Optional: Spouse and Dependants Eligibility
Your spouse or common-law partner can also be covered under your HSA, along with children under 21, children under 25 who are enrolled in full-time post-secondary education, and children of any age who are physically or mentally dependent. All must live in the same household as you.
Incorporated in Canada
The plan must be sponsored by a legal Canadian corporation, excluding QC.
Pays a T4 salary from the business
T4 income clearly shows that you're an employee of your corporation. This helps establish the employer-employee relationship that is expected.
The HSA is part of your employee compensation
It must be set up as a formal employment benefit, not a shareholder perk.
No arm’s-length employees
Only your spouse or dependants may be employed in the business.
You set a reasonable annual limit
The amount must reflect your compensation and job role, to a maximum of $15,000. Industry guidance suggests the benefit should fall within 10 - 15% of your salary and be consistent with what a comparably paid employee in another corporation might receive.
Optional: Spouse and Dependants Eligibility
Your spouse or common-law partner can also be covered under your HSA, along with children under 21, children under 25 who are enrolled in full-time post-secondary education, and children of any age who are physically or mentally dependent. All must live in the same household as you.
Ensuring Compliance
Hiveworks follows the CRA’s requirements for Health Spending Accounts, which are considered a type of Private Health Services Plan (PHSP).
Whether you’re an incorporated individual or a business with employees, every part of our HSA is structured to meet these rules from day one.
Plan structure follows PHSP guidelines
Each plan is a formal arrangement between the business and its employees, including the owner. Annual limits are defined in advance and cannot be changed mid-year.
Eligibility checks follow METC rules
Hiveworks limits reimbursements to expenses that are eligible under the CRA’s Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC). These include medical, dental, vision, mental health, prescription drugs, and other qualified healthcare services. Only expenses from the eligible medical expenses and eligible medical practitioners CRA guides are permitted.
Reimbursement only after actual expense
Participants must pay out-of-pocket first and submit a dated receipt. Hiveworks verifies that a real financial loss or liability has occurred before reimbursing you, a core requirement for PHSP compliance.
Employer-funded payments only
Claims are always funded directly by the business. Hiveworks invoices the business, and once payment is received, reimburses the employee or owner personally. Self-payments or informal transfers are not permitted on the platform.
Digital oversight and recordkeeping
All claims, invoices, and reimbursements are securely stored in your Hiveworks account. Each record is time-stamped and organized automatically, giving you and your accountant a clear, auditable history of every transaction at year-end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Health Spending Account CRA compliant?
Yes. A Health Spending Account (HSA) qualifies as a Private Health Services Plan (PHSP) when set up correctly. Your business acts as the plan sponsor and reimburses employees for eligible medical expenses. As long as the plan follows CRA PHSP criteria and only reimburses eligible costs, reimbursements are tax free and fully deductible to the business.
Can I replace my existing group insurance with this?
Yes, you can use it as a complete replacement for routine health/dental coverage, or as a top-up alongside an insurance plan to reduce your overall premiums.
Is the HSA benefit taxable for my employees?
No. This is the key advantage of an HSA over a cash bonus or a Wellness Account (WSA). When structured correctly (which we handle), reimbursements are 100% tax-free for your employees. Your corporation still gets to claim the funding as a fully tax-deductible business expense.
How do I control costs if there are "No Category Limits"?
You control the cost by setting an Annual Limit for each employee. For example, if you give an employee $2,000, that is the maximum they can spend. The "No Category Limits" feature just means the employee has the flexibility to spend that $2,000 however they need, whether it's all on braces or all on therapy, without being capped per service.
Are big-ticket items like braces or laser eye surgery covered?
Yes. This is a huge perk. Traditional insurance often excludes orthodontics or laser eye surgery. An HSA covers any CRA-eligible medical expense. If an employee needs $3,000 for their child's braces, they can use their HSA funds for it tax-free.
How much time does this take to manage?
Almost none. We are a digital-first platform. You simply add yourself and your employees and set their limits. Your team submits their own claims and receipts. We handle the adjudication, compliance checks, and reimbursements.
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