“Ignoring these gaps isn’t neutral. It’s a missed opportunity,” says VP at Maple
It’s the last week of Women’s Health Month and new findings released from Maple emphasize that supporting women's health is crucial for a stronger workforce and economy.
According to the virtual care platform, 76 per cent believe the Canadian health system is not designed with their needs in mind, highlighting how outdated models of care are failing to support the way they seek care today. Additionally, 62 per cent of women have delayed or skipped care due to long wait times while
These numbers ring true for Amii Stephenson and those in the sandwich generation who support both aging parents and children, notably, as 31 per cent cited caregiving has led them to delay seeking care for themselves.
“Plan sponsors have the opportunity to redesign benefits with real world access in mind and cover overlooked services, like caregiver assistance, perimenopause, menopausal support and chronic care conditions,” said Stephenson, VP of sales and spokesperson at Maple.
“These aren't niche services. Half of our population is experiencing these sorts of things… Access is about more than just having a benefits card, it's about how and when people can use those benefits. I don't think benefits plans can any longer be one size fits all. They have to match the lived experiences of the plan members.”
While Canada’s healthcare system was designed in 1984, Stephenson believes the system hasn’t evolved alongside increasing life expectancy, growing mental health needs, and the growing demands on women to juggle careers and caregiving.
“It was designed in an era that didn’t really reflect today’s realities,” she said. “The biggest takeaway for me is how deeply women feel unseen and underserved in the healthcare space. To the extent that women are delaying or avoiding care, delays aren’t just inconvenient, but they have measurable consequences on physical and mental health and family stability, which leads to workplace productivity, too.”
While she doesn’t call Canada’s healthcare system a complete failure, acknowledging that it still offers many strengths, she didn’t downplay the serious holes needed to fill when it comes to serving women, pointing to three specific areas where the system consistently falls short.
Access to care is the most immediate concern, in Stephenson’s view, as “appointments are hard to book, wait times are really long and the care doesn’t fit with the work or the caregiving schedules,” she said.
Recognition, or lack thereof, is another issue. Many women, especially younger ones, feel overlooked by healthcare providers, Stephenson noted, adding that these experiences can make women feel unheard during critical health interactions.
Stephenson also pointed to the lack of meaningful support for caregivers. She described how working women are often caught in the role of providing care for both children and aging parents. The result is a cascading toll of delayed treatments, emotional and financial strain, and ultimately, a broken link between women and the healthcare system they should be able to trust.
Stephenson acknowledged the intense strain faced by those in the sandwich generation, notably, as individuals, like herself, are simultaneously caring for children and aging parents. According to the data, 93 per cent of these caregivers report their health has suffered.
While she avoided diving into specific policy recommendations, Stephenson stressed the value of expanded caregiver leave and financial support as ways to improve outcomes and reduce long-term costs for both employers and the healthcare system. However, she also emphasized the complexity of caregiving today, while acknowledging that a family unit “is not rigid”, and advocates for a tiered benefits approach that accommodates diverse family dynamics and includes support for extended family and case-by-case flexibility.
“There needs to be a level of flexibility built into to support unique, outlying situations, and they should be at an employee and an employer's discretion, in my opinion. I think the main message is, is design benefits for how people live now, not how they lived 40 years ago or how a family used to look,” she said.
“It’s really about fast and easy access to care, integrating mental and physical care together so that they can support themselves, but they can also support their loved ones and recognize caregiving as a health risk and an economic issue,” she added.
Stephenson also emphasized that while Canada’s healthcare system does leave gaps, it’s often in the workplace where those gaps become most visible. And where there's the greatest opportunity for plan sponsors to intervene. After all, she points to findings from the report that underscore a strong business case for action.
“57 per cent of women missed work due to health issues, 73 per cent of women aged 35 to 54 are typically in their peak career years [and] have reported missing work, and 31 per cent say that out-of-pocket costs strain their household finances,” she highlighted, adding that employers and plan sponsors are well positioned to respond with meaningful solutions.
For Stephenson, investing in virtual and tech-enabled care can ease wait times, make care more accessible, and align services with employees’ busy lives.
“[Plan sponsors] have the opportunity to think about caregiver-specific benefits, navigation support, mental health resources… That smarter way of approaching where people are at,” she said, adding that these supports already exist. What’s needed is the will among employers to bring them together in a cohesive way.
Stephenson urged employers to recognize that the biggest risk they face isn’t just financial. Rather, it’s the potential loss of their most valuable asset: their people, underscoring that investing in employee wellbeing is essential. She warned that when women, particularly mid-career professionals, are forced to delay care due to systemic gaps, the consequences ripple through the workplace. Productivity drops, burnout rises, and talent retention suffers.
“Ignoring these gaps isn’t neutral. It’s a missed opportunity and a growing liability,” said Stephenson. “Supporting women's health isn't just about addressing individual care gaps, it's about sustaining that invisible infrastructure that keeps our country running.”
