Desjardins Insurance is expanding its group benefits to better support neurodivergent employees and their families, launching a program called Neurodiversity Focus.
The program adds coverage for services from educational therapists and behaviour analysts. It also allows plan members’ wellness accounts to cover tools and equipment that help with concentration, time management, transitions, reducing environmental stimuli and sensory regulation. Existing coverage for speech therapists, mental health professionals, neuropsychologists and occupational therapists continues.
“There are as many ways of being neurodivergent as there are people,” said Chantal Gagné, president and chief operating officer of Desjardins Financial Security. Gagné said the program aims to reflect that diversity and help employers create more inclusive workplaces.
Desjardins describes neurodiversity as including conditions such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Neurodiversity Focus also gives plan members and employers access to several partners. Desjardins is working with Autism Canada to provide employers with tools and resources for inclusive workplaces. Plan members will be able to use Maple’s Beyond ADHD program for assessment, diagnosis and follow-up care. Other partners include the fdmt online store, which sells products for people with learning and developmental needs, and NeurAlly Care, which supports parents of neurodivergent children through its KeenSpire app.
Desjardins will also add a neurodiversity section to its Health is Cool 360° health platform.
The launch comes as claims linked to neurodivergent conditions grow. GreenShield’s 2026 Drug Trends Report, released last month, found demand for ADHD treatment continued to rise in 2025, with prevalence among women up 15% year over year.
For group benefits advisors, the program reflects a broader move by carriers to target specific employee populations, alongside recent launches such as GreenShield’s menopause program and Canada Life’s savings options for Gen Z.
Plan design is where the detail matters. Because much of the support for tools and equipment runs through the wellness account, members will draw on a fixed balance their employer has set, rather than a new insured benefit. Advisors will want to check how large clients’ wellness accounts are, whether educational therapists and behaviour analysts fall under existing paramedical maximums, and whether the Maple ADHD service is an added cost or included. Employers focused on inclusion and retaining neurodivergent staff may see this as a selling point, but the real value depends on those limits.
