2020-2021 SARC Annual Report

SARC

ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Table of Contents Introduction A Message from the SARC Board President and Executive Director The SARC Board of Directors

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Member Services SARC Member Moments COVID Impacts the Disability Service Sector Education & Training Highlights SARC Expands Learning Opportunities Stride Continues to Grow COMPASS Training Package Highlights COVID Couldn’t Stop the SETI Projects SARC Supports Members with COVID Staffing Considerations

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Capital Projects Take a Back Seat

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SARC Launches New Cyber Insurance Program

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SARCAN SARCAN Year at a Glance Many Safe Returns Drop & Go Reaches New Heights Celebrating Our Employees Improving the Customer Experience Customer Research Survey Results Powering Up SARCAN - New Household Battery Recycling Program Employee Development - Investing in Employee Training & Education

Financial SARC/SARCAN Finanial Highlights SARC/SARCAN Financial Reports Pension and Benefits Programs

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

A Message From SARC BOARD PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR A global pandemic. Business shutdowns. School closures. Working from home. Social distancing.

Financial uncertainty. Never in recent history has there been a year like 2020/21.

As we reflect on the past year, we take stock of the unprecedented challenges the organization and our people had to endure. We do not have to look too far to be reminded of the cultural, health, political and economic uncertainty that blanketed our world. Humankind experienced unimaginable loss, trauma, pain and stress. Tensions heightened by the pandemic and political climate incited inconceivable behaviours and attitudes of some and exposed how harmful a small group of combative radicals can be. This year reminded us of the fragility that surrounds us and helped to shine a light on our vulnerabilities and challenge our assumptions.

As we sit down to write this message, we are reminded of Winston Churchill’s famous quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Woven throughout this report are examples of SARC Members and employees working in the Disability Service sector raising the bar of excellence yet another notch. No training, manual or policy could have fully prepared SARC Members for the obstacles they have faced and stress they have endured. SARC Members waded through layers of conflicting communication and ambiguous public guidelines. They scrambled to source Personal Protective Equipment, such as masks, gloves, eye protection, face shields and gowns, and found themselves competing with every other organization doing the same. SARC Members endured staff shortages specific to COVID-19 as well as the closure of programs and outbreaks that impacted staff and the people they support. Some Members tragically lost people to the Coronavirus disease. The toll that this pandemic took on the Disability Service sector has been significant. For a sector that embraces personcentred support and champions community inclusion, having to discontinue many of their services, restrict visitors and keep clients isolated and away from the people, activities and jobs they loved was against everyone’s very nature. Organizations grappled with knowing that Health Orders would keep everyone safe but also included safety measures that contradicted their service philosophies.

Over the last year, SARC Members were called upon to collaborate and work together in new ways.

Members have adapted and embraced new and innovative approaches to service delivery. Organizations

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upheld their commitment to the health and safety of all and explored new ways of delivering personcentred support in a restricted environment. Throughout this crisis, SARC Members continued to do what they do best – providing opportunities, creating connections and celebrating the value and gifts each person brings with them. The words “thank you” just do not seem to be enough.

“As we sit down to write this message, we are reminded of Winston Churchill’s famous quote, ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’.”

In March 2020, SARC made the difficult but appropriate decision to temporarily shut down SARCAN Recycling. With 72 depots at the time and 2 processing plants located throughout the province, this was no simple feat. Teamwork, adaptability and a deep-rooted commitment to the health and safety of our employees and customers strongly bound the system together as we set to close our doors. These same threads bound SARCAN as we worked to keep people connected, engaged and informed throughout our ten-week closure.

as our people are. This diversity has allowed the organization to grow and provide even more services to our Members. It has also led us to become a recycling system envied by others.

In our final reflection and as we look towards the future, we must shift our thinking and challenge our organization to extract wisdom and lessons from our shared experience. We must commit to transitioning back to practices that still make sense, and we must be open and willing to propel towards positive practices and changes that grew out of this crisis.

Thanks to the continuation of grant funding from the Province of Saskatchewan, SARCAN was able to minimize the financial hardship experienced by the staff by continuing to pay employees. During the closure, many employees focused on taking refresher training and accessing new training courses. This has resulted in record-high learning hours and the transfer of knowledge and skill back into our depots and plants. Although employees were eager to return to work and apply their newly acquired wisdom, no one could have predicted the sheer volume of containers that came through our doors once we reopened in June. The energy in the system was palpable as our employees all across the province worked to keep their depots open and process an extraordinary amount of containers, all while ensuring social distancing, masking and cleaning protocols were being adhered to. Employees at all levels worked harder than they ever had before. Throughout this report, you will see impressive examples of the growth, improvements and expansions that continued in spite of and occasionally attributed to the pandemic. At the same time, we began to refocus our sights on priorities identified in SARC’s new Strategic Plan spanning 2021-2025.

SARC has been described as an organization unlike any other. Our operations are as diverse

In closing, we would like to thank the employees that work as part of the SARC/SARCAN administrative office. Throughout the pandemic, they persevered and remained professional and excellence-driven, even when they were exhausted and unsure of what the next day would bring.

We would also like to thank the Board of Directors for its ongoing support and guidance during these unprecedented times. The SARC Board faced numerous challenges throughout the year with grace and integrity, and its efforts and sustained dedication to preserving the health of the Association has been remarkable.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

The SARC Board of Directors

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SARC Board was unable to meet to obtain updated photos of the Board representatives for the 2020/21 year.

Dawn Desautels

Valerie Budd-Pritchard

Lionel Prefontaine

Yvonne Nyholt

South West Regular Board Representative Cypress Hills Ability Centres

South Associate Manager Representative Citizens All Association

External Appointment

North Associate Board Representative Battlefords Residential Services Inc.

Jim Morrison

Marnie Watkin-Pawelko

Bill Powalinsky

North East Regular Board Representative Plus Industries

South Associate Board Representative Regina Residential Resource Centre

North Regular Manager Representative Community Service Centre/ Pine Industries

Keith Leippi

Donald Salie

Unita Esau

Corey Hadden

South East Regular Board Representative Harvest Community Inc.

North West Regular Board Representative Battlefords Trade & Education Centre

North Regular Board Representative Multiworks Corporation

South Regular Manager Representative SaskAbilities - Regina Branch

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Secretary

Board Committees Executive Committee

SARCAN Committee

Member Services Committee

Finance / Pension & Benefits Committee

Dawn Desautels Valerie Budd-Pritchard Lionel Prefontaine Yvonne Nyholt Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison Bill Powalinsky Keith Leippi Unita Esau

Yvonne Nyholt Marnie Watkin-Pawelko Donald Salie

Lionel Prefontaine Valerie Budd-Pritchard Corey Hadden

SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARC Member Moments

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Supporting SARC Members THROUGH COVID-19 This past year has been a challenging one for SARC Members, to say the least, and as they have worked diligently to ensure the health and safety of their clients and employees, SARC worked to support them as best we could. This support included fielding numerous phone calls/emails, connecting Members to information, and working with our partners to advocate for the disability service sector’s consideration amidst public health orders and other COVID-related decisions impacting our Members.

An important vehicle for our work was the establishment of the Emergency Response & Preparedness Committee, which is comprised of representatives of SARC, SARC Members, Inclusion Saskatchewan, and the Ministry of Social Services. We were also happy to have The Saskatchewan Association for Safe Workplaces in Health join us to provide updates on the resources and supports being offered to our Members by their Infection Control Consultants. This committee has served as a central point for documenting questions, coordinating how to get those questions answered, and providing resources and information to SARC Members. Through this work, SARC launched a COVID-19 Resource Hub on the SARC Learning Central website (sarclearningcentral.ca) to provide current and key information to service providers and the people they support/their families; toward the end of the fiscal year, this included resources and logistical information associated with the vaccine strategy.

Throughout late 2020 and into early 2021, SARC and SARC Members advocated for the prioritization of the disability service sector in the vaccine roll-out and were pleased to be included at the start of Phase 2. We are thankful to the Government of Saskatchewan for their acknowledgement of the unique risk factors faced by people experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities and the sector’s employees who support them. As of the writing of this, SARC Members have been through their first dose clinics and are eagerly awaiting their second doses.

“While we are by no means through this yet, we are hopeful that the end is in sight.”

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While we are by no means through this yet, we are hopeful that the end is in sight. We want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to supporting our sector, including but not limited to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services, and Saskatchewan Health Authority for their liaison work and the coordination of the bi-weekly Town Hall sessions to keep service providers informed throughout the pandemic.

the situation continues to evolve. Management and staff teams have put in countless hours revising and implementing procedures and infection control protocols, filling shifts due to short staffing, and supporting clients to understand the public health measures. The efforts to protect physical health has taken its toll on everyone’s mental health, and our Members are doing their best to support their teams and clients with the prolonged impacts on quality of life.

And, of course, a tremendous thank you and acknowledgement goes out to our Members. Their Boards and staff have done their utmost to keep everyone safe and healthy, adjusting services as per contingency plans and adjusting them again as

SARC is proud to represent and support our Members in the incredibly important work you do.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Education & Training HIGHLIGHTS SARC’s Education & Training Team had a strong year again, thanks to the support of our Members!

We continued to deliver a variety of programs and added new professional development options to our ever-growing list of in-person, online, and virtual training offerings.

Program Registrations 1639 1591

2019

+ 3% More Praise for ELEVATE - SARC’s Online Board Development Program “It was very informative, and every new director should take this course. Elevate opened up great discussions on our board and we were able to see our strengths and areas we need to improve.”

-Board Director

2020

In the 2020/21 Training year, SARC saw an increase of 3% in registrations from the previous fiscal year.

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SARC’s Response to Education & Training During COVID-19 SARC Members faced many operational complications and considerations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and employee training was no exception. New hire training was still required to address the usual turnover that happens in our sector and to cover off staff shortages due to the pandemic, and existing employees were still in need of refresher or recertification training. As such, we knew we had to adjust our training approach to ensure our programs were accessible and safe.

Because of concerns, guidelines, and restrictions, SARC cancelled or postponed many of our in-person training sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, a number of training sessions were moved online, were pre-recorded, or were facilitated live virtually, which allowed us to continue to offer professional development options to various levels of employees and Boards of Directors from across the province and beyond. For those events that we were able to host in-person, SARC carefully planned and put in place a number of health and safety measures that met and exceeded all public health orders and government guidelines, including increased cleaning, smaller group sizes, mandatory screening, and physically distancing.

“Employees expressed gratitude and satisfaction at being able to participate in professional development during the pandemic.”

–SARC Member Executive Director “I appreciate SARC still being able to provide training and recertification opportunities in a COVID safe environment.”

–Learner “I really appreciate SARC being able to provide us our final LEAP sessions via zoom videos as we could not meet together during a pandemic.

I am so happy to have met some new people, gained new knowledge and can come back to my workplace with some great new ideas. Thanks so much!”

–Leap Graduate “I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a member of this sector and enjoy the opportunities that SARC provides for member agencies.”

–Learner

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARC Expands LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES SARC’s Spring and Fall Conference Went Virtual!

SARC Launches Venture – A New Program for Nonprofit Supervisors

We may not have been able to meet in-person, but we couldn’t imagine not having our annual conferences, so SARC hosted our first ever virtual conference in October 2020! Attendees mentioned they were pleased with the virtual format and enjoyed tuning in to hear experts from all over the world present on a variety of topics, stating, “Great presentations; I took a few things from each session I joined,” and, “All were very good, and I liked the fact that because it was virtual, there were presenters from all over the world sharing their knowledge and experiences.” This conference included sessions for everyone – staff, managers, and Board Directors at nonprofit organizations – and included presentations on talking about end of life with people experiencing disability, governance, risk implications, the role of the Board, employer engagement, and trauma-informed care.

Venture is an online program geared towards first-line supervisors – those who are new to their role or for supervisors looking to build their skill set. It covers the essentials on how to effectively supervise other employees at the organization and helps the Learner to build their Toolbox of Resources in order to increase their knowledge and confidence.

Here is what people are saying about this new program:

“Venture has helped me become more comfortable in my role. It opened my eyes to what changes I need to make and what practices I can continue. It has reminded me to continue to grow in knowledge and practice. Communicate, be clear, approachable, and listen. Be a team.”

“Venture is an integral course that is very informative to all supervisors like me in a non-profit sector! I highly recommend this course for anyone who is needing some more guidance or even just a refresher.

This is a great tool for our day-to-day work and not only helps me as a person but also my employer and I am confident now that I am equipped as I continue in my role.”

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Stride CONTINUES TO GROW Launched in October 2019, Stride saw an increase of 155% in Learners participating in 2020/2021. This increase is a direct result of an additional 24 Stride Trainers completing the Train-the-Trainer program this year, which enables them to guide employees through the program at their oraganization.

Stride is set up in a blended-learning format, which incldues navigating Learners through online content and follow-up meetings and assessments by the organization’s Stride Trainer. The program is thought of as a first step in a Direct Support Professional’s (DSP’s) career path and covers the essentials a DSP needs to know when supporting people experiencing disability. After completing Stride, 100% of respondents stated they felt more confident in their role as a Direct Support Professional.

“Each module had refreshing information that was a good reminder, as well as new information that I learned. It was a good way to be reminded about all the little and big roles of a DSP and how important our job is. Our role is very impactful to people’s lives and we need to ensure we are doing the best we can. All roles of the job were covered in this training and I believe it will help me do a better job.”

- Stride Learner “It provided a very comprehensive look at all aspects of being a DSP including the historical information. As someone with no background in the disability service sector, it has given me ample information to succeed at my job.

Plus, many resources to use if/ when I come across situations that I have never dealt with before.”

- Stride Learner

Enrollment in Stride saw an increase of

+155% This increase is a direct result of an additional 24 Stride Trainers completing the Train-the-Trainer program this year!

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

COMPASS C COMPASS

Training Package

TRAINING PACKAGE HIGHLIGHTS 2020/2021 marks the first full year that all 11 programs were available under the COMPASS Training Package*. The programs in COMPASS are: Stride

Person-Centred Essentials

First Aid/CPR/AED Level C

PART

Food Handler Certification

TLR

WHMIS 2015 Med Assist Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)

Leap ELEVATE

COMPASS Bonus Webinars With lower expenses related to the decrease in in-person training events because of COVID-19 restrictions, SARC was pleased to be able to provide additional professional development opportunities this year by hosting four special webinars. These well-attended sessions covered a variety of topics that were particularly relevant to our Members and supplemented the programs offered in the COMPASS Training Package: 1.

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3.

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Your Safety Committee and the Law Are Your Compensation Practices Fair and Effective?

Virtual Member Meetings COVID-19, Trauma, and People Experiencing Disability

There were 85 eligible organizations in 2020/2021, an increase of 6 from 2019/2020 due to new organizations joining the SARC Membership.

+25.4 %

1180 941

Increase in COMPASS program registrations from 2019-2020.

* All Regular and Associate Members as well as Affiliate Members that have CLSD funding are eligible to take these programs at no cost. There are registration limits for particular programs.

Please visit https://www.sarclearningcentral.ca/compass for more information. Please note that most of SARC’s training programs are also available for purchase if an organization is not eligible to access them at no cost through COMPASS.

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High Participation for COMPASS Online Training Programs Many people took advantage of online COMPASS programs in 2020/2021. Of the eligible Members, 88% accessed the COMPASS Training Package by enrolling in one or more programs.

+72%

increase in Learners who participated in online programs offered through COMPASS.

256 Learners enrolled in PBS in 2020 making that a

+117%

in Learners participating in the program.

553 Learners accessed Med Assist

+43% increase from 2019/2020.

290 Learners enrolled in WHMIS 2015

+1281%

increase from 2019/2020.

Members continue to support and participate in programs in the COMPASS Training Package - 88% of eligible organizations participated in COMPASS, enrolling in one or more of the programs.

“I would recommend [PBS] to anyone supporting people. The training provides a framework to improve our understanding of the functions of behaviours and how we can better respond to the needs of people and improve our communication with the people we are supporting. I wanted to take the training to evaluate if it would be helpful for our staff and I definitely will be including this training in our overall training plan for our employees” – SARC Member Executive Director

“Safely assisting and administrating medications will help clients with their overall wellbeing. However, if the assistant (support worker) is not familiar with basic skills, principles, and practices on medication administration, it can be detrimental for the client.

Therefore, I, as a support worker, who helps clients with all aspects of their living, this program helped me on how to implement the basic skills, principles, and practices to safely do my duties.”

- Learner

“Especially due to COVID-19 we have been disinfecting everything as much as possible. I have had to use WHMIS to mix chemicals to make disinfectant and cleaners.”

- Learner

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

COVID Couldn’t Stop THE SETI PROJECTS The 2020/2021 fiscal year saw seven organizations approved for Supported Employment Transition Initiative (SETI) funding to assist people to prepare for, obtain, or maintain employment and to engage employers to increase diversity in their workplaces by hiring people experiencing disability.

121 people gained employment through the SETI Projects in 2021

As the new fiscal year started, projects were required to pivot and focus on job seeker employment preparation, as COVID-19 had pretty much shut down the Saskatchewan economy resulting in little to no opportunity to find employment. SETI projects shifted their approach to phone calls and online platforms to stay engaged with job seekers, and they offered opportunities to improve skills, such as customer service courses. One project offered wellness connection meetings in order to assist job seekers to deal with the isolation they were experiencing.

With everything closing across the province at the start of the year, other challenges included projects that partnered with schools to assist with student transitions and projects that were running a business as their platform for increasing their job seekers’ skills while earning income there.

However, it did not take long to come up with new strategies and creative solutions, such as catering services converting to no-contact home delivery and drive-thru sales. The SETI projects stayed well connected throughout the year to share their ideas, including a greeting card business and selling crafts. Through this connection, two projects also partnered together by selling each other’s products.

All projects made efforts to keep employers engaged, while being sensitive to the fact that many businesses had to curtail operations in order to attempt to keep their doors open. The majority of the first half of the year was helping job seekers to build skills and prepare them to be ready for a time when the labour market was once again hiring.

In September, three of the SETI funded projects were invited to present a session at the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) Virtual Conference, which provided a great

opportunity to showcase the innovation of these Saskatchewan projects at a national level.

Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) was again proclaimed for October 2020. SARC’s Executive Director, Amy McNeil, was interviewed on CTV Live in Regina and Saskatoon to kick off the month. Throughout October, many organizations from across the province used virtual means and social media to recognize inclusive employers within their communities.

SARC hosted a well-attended lunchtime webinar for employers on the economic benefits of inclusive hiring that featured Mark Wafer, nationally known disability employment advocate, along with three Saskatchewan success stories from Farm Credit Canada, Humboldt Sobey’s, and Weyburn Rona.

Throughout the year, SARC partnered with SaskTel, Farm Credit Canada, Juliana Pizza, and Humboldt Sobey’s in various media campaigns.

This included print and online advertising as well as airing commercials featuring these businesses that promoted hiring people experiencing disability, with the tag line of “It pays to be inclusive”. Our digital advertising proved quite successful in driving traffic to our EmployLink website.

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Despite the many challenges presented by COVID-19, it was a successful first year of implementation of outcomes based contract management (OBCM) within the SETI program. We are pleased to report that thanks to the seven SETI projects’ commitment and creativity, 121 people obtained employment with their support.

We are all certainly looking forward to seeing what this next year brings.

1. Munch Cafe & Catering

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Catering staff started to learn new skills during the pandemic, including buns and biscuit making. These were used in the weekly soup offerings.

2. Weyburn Wor-kin Shop Job Seeker expands his skills in First Aid and CPR for employment readiness training.

3. Eagle’s Nest Youth Ranch

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Due to COVID-19, youth at ENYR were unable to participate in many activities throughout the community; however, shovelling snow kept them busy and employed throughout the winter months.

4. Porcupine Opportunities Program A worker from Porcupine Opportunities Program does inventory and stocking in the local Co-Op grocery store.

5. SaskAbilities - Swift Current Branch

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Job seeker with Partners in Employment in Swift Current who gained employment in 2020.

6. Crocus Co-Op Working in the kitchens at Crocus involves washing dishes, prepping lunches for the work crews, making soup, running the canteen, and helping to prep lunch for the members.

7. North Sask Independent Living Centre Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NSILC adjusted training to offer an online customer service program so that job seekers could attain employment virtually.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARC Supports Members WITH COVID-19 STAFFING CONSIDERATIONS SARC’s Human Resources Consultant and Labour Relations Consultant had another busy year of supporting our Members with the usual inquiries and the new elements of COVID-19 impacts on staffing. With SARC Members providing a range of services for people experiencing intellectual and developmental disability, there were numerous COVID-19 considerations and different implications between day programs and residential supports, including:

Day Program Layoffs and Scheduling: Numerous organizations had to decrease staff when their day programs were shut down, implementing the lay-off procedures from their collective bargaining agreements or The Saskatchewan Employment Act provisions. Once the legislation was quickly amended to remove the notice time for COVID-19-related layoffs, CBOs sought support in order to interpret the new rules. Where organizations could re-deploy day program employees to other areas, they did so, and schedules were changed so that employees could provide support within group homes.

Cohorting: The day program closures were just one of the pressures on residential services. Public Health Orders and the overall drive to minimize risk of exposure saw the implementation of staff cohorting, which further complicated staff scheduling and availability. Some SARC Members required our support in implementing these rules, particularly if they were unionized. Cohorting also caused staff retention challenges in some cases. With it being common for Direct Support Professionals in the disability service sector to also have a job in the health care sector, some employees opted to only work in the health care facility and either took a leave of absence from the SARC Member or resigned.

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Leaves of Absence: SARC Members made numerous inquiries regarding employees who did not feel safe coming to work but had no medical condition to consider for an accommodation. In many of these cases, employees asked to be put on a leave or laid off and then planned to collect the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

Organizations at times struggled to get enough employees in place to cover their operations, and they had a difficult time filling temporary contracts to cover leaves of absences with unknown end dates. Recruitment has been an ongoing concern throughout the pandemic.

Employee understanding of and compliance with Public Health Orders, on and off duty: Given the nature of the work and risks to client and employee safety, considerable time and effort went into employee education and training on public health orders as they changed and workplace expectations around masking, other required personal protective equipment, household ‘bubbles’, and self-monitoring/ isolating. SARC Members sought the support of SARC’s Labour Relations Consultant and Human Resources Consultant on those occasions where performance management was required related to compliance.

Vaccinations: In preparation for vaccines being available in Saskatchewan, SARC sought a general legal opinion on behalf of our Members in order to share information with them on the many employer considerations related to the vaccine.

Several organizations made inquiries to SARC on balancing employees’ right to privacy regarding their choice of whether or not to get vaccinated with the safety concerns of other employees and clients within the home or work unit.

Mental Health: The strains of this pandemic on mental health and the prolonged stressors that people are experiencing have been widely acknowledged, and the disability service sector is no exception.

Mental health disability claims and WCB claims are on the rise. SARC Members are doing what

they can to support their employees, encourage wellness initiatives, and connect employees to helpful resources to assist them with COVID19’s impacts on them both personally and professionally.

Aside from COVID-19 related supports, another trend this year was an increase in supporting SARC Member Boards with their role as employer of their organization’s Executive Director.

Inquiries included Executive Director succession and recruitment in response to planned retirements and other turnover, performance management, the Board-Executive Director working relationship, and compensation. SARC is always happy to support Boards in their role, and we look forward to enhancing our services and supports to Boards in the coming years as part of our new strategic plan.

Throughout the past year, pretty much all of SARC’s HR/LR consulting was done virtually, including participating in virtual meetings with unions for collective bargaining and other matters. The format and process of preparing for these virtual meetings proved to be quite effective. We also adjusted to participating in virtual career fairs to promote employment in the disability service sector.

SARC’s Labour Relations Consultant and Human Resources Consultant will always be available for our Members, and this past year has shown that the virtual option is a viable option.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Capital Projects TAKE A BACK SEAT In mid-March, 2020, COVID-19 was making its way into SK, and the first signs of change came in the form of event cancellations. For the SARC Membership, this included the much-anticipated provincial celebration marking the completion of finding community-based homes for former Valley View Centre (VVC) residents. We were all disappointed to miss this opportunity to celebrate this accomplishment together, and there was the hope that it could be re-scheduled soon.

Grand openings, a time where people can come together to celebrate rejuvenation and new opportunities in their communities, were cancelled as well. It did not take long to realize that this would not be a short-term situation. Everyone’s focus was on the health and safety of the sector’s clients and employees, meaning that grand openings, celebrations, and activities that were part of typcical facility planning schedules would have to wait.

On the residential services side of SARC Members’ operations, group homes restricted visitors in order to minimize risk of exposure within the home - something that remained relatively unchanged throughout the year. Now was not the time for entertaining renovation/construction ideas. With these considerations and travel restrictions, SARC’s Facility Planner could not visit group homes to consult on repairs, upgrades, or long-term capital replacement planning. Despite these limitations, some aspects of SARC’s support did not change, and Members continued to seek information on all sorts of building-related questions. Overall, there were fewer group home projects this past fiscal year.

Day program buildings, typically a hub of energy, were vacant in the early part of the fiscal year. Some Members took advantage of these vacancies by doing a deep cleaning of their building, but, again, new renovation or repair projects were typically not considered, and some projects that had begun pre-COVID-19 were put on hold. These projects restarted after some restrictions loosened and Members had more time to devote to a building project. SARC’s Facility Planner supported 11 day program projects, ranging from bathroom renovations to

general rejuvenations, to new builds.

As projects got underway, the proecess of how they were managed adjusted to account for the pandemic.The typical monthly in-person construction meetings at the worksite converted to virtual meetings. Even some inspections were done through video and with the use of photos. Overall, the number of on-site visits dropped significantly, but those involved felt the process of virtual meetings was effective.

The pandemic also caused some setbacks and projects delays, with the supply of certain construction materials limited and delayed. Limited supply also meant a higher price. Basic construction material has more than doubled in price, causing Members to reconsider or scale down a project to fit the budget. Short supply and higher prices of materials will affect future building and renovation projects in the upcoming year as well.

While the pandemic may have slowed or halted active plans for renovation or new construction, SARC Members continued to plan for the future. SARC’s Facility Planner supported several Members in their search for new homes and day program buildings, providing assessments on overall building condition and accessibility so they could make an informed decision whether to purchase (or not) a potential building.

SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Despite closures and delays, some SARC Members were still able to make progress with projects throughout the pandemic. SARC Members continued to plan for the future and as 2021 began, so too did new projects.

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1. Battlefords Residential Services Inc. The BRIDGE Day Program building was renovated to update all the finishes and create more open space. A few walls were removed, the kitchen was relocated, and the washrooms were made bigger.

2. Interlake Human Resources Corporation A new addition is in the works to expand IHRC’s Day Program capacity to better support their clients in community-based activities.

Accessibility features are also being added including a washroom equipped for personal care.

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3. Light of the Prairies A two story addition was added to their Day Program building to house their offices as well as provide a large training room and smaller meeting rooms. The former offices were converted into smaller programming spaces for learning activities.

4. Valley Action Abilities As part of their three-phased master renovation plan, increasing accessibility in their washrooms was the first priority. Now all stalls are accessible and have access to ceiling track lifts. There are four larger individual washrooms as well.

5. Prairie Branches A new group home is nearing completion in Wilkie. This fully accessible group home will be a welcomed home for four clients with signifiant mobility challenges.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARC Launches NEW CYBER INSURANCE PROGRAM In response to the concerning trend of cyber threats and risks facing nonprofits, SARC and our partners at Butler Byers Insurance Ltd. launched a new Cyber Insurance Program for SARC Members in January 2021.

This new insurance is offered through Coalition, the fastest-growing provider of cyber insurance in Canada and the US. On the strength of SARC’s Insurance Program, SARC and Butler Byers Insurance Ltd. have been able to secure comprehensive coverage at group pricing to get SARC Members an affordable package that fits their needs.

Coverage highlights of the Cyber Insurance Program include but are not limited to:

3rd Party Coverage Examples:

1st Party Coverage Examples:

• • •

• • • •

Network & Information Security Liability Regulatory Defense & Penalties Payment Card Industry Fines & Assessments

Cyber Extortion Fund Transfer Fraud Crisis Management & Public Relations Breach Response

Regular Scanning •

All policyholders who have a website domain will receive regularly occurring scans of their public-facing infrastructure using non-penetrative methods to detect potential threats and vulnerabilities to the organization.

Cyber Risk Assessment • Policyholders who have a website domain can access the results of the most recent scan by downloading their Cyber Risk Assessment. The data in the document includes: • Details about any critical infrastructure vulnerabilities • Domain misconfigurations • Exposed employee information • This is a risk management tool that will assist policyholders to be proactive rather than reactive.

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Ongoing Monitoring •

Coalition continuously monitors policyholders’ public-facing infrastructure (if they have a website domain) and will proactively send email alerts whenever new vulernabilities or threats are discovered.

Support and Training • •

Access to Coalition security and incident response team to assist and provide consultation.

With Coalition’s in-house claims and incident response team, policy holders get a faster response versus other carriers that outsource the service, and Coalition reports that 45% of pre-breach events are resolved at no cost to the insured – their goal is to help organizations catch system gaps before they result in a loss that would open an insurance claim.

While it is impossible to know exactly what type of cyber attack will strike and when, understanding, managing and transferring risks will assist in the mitigation of such threats, and cyber insurance is an important part of an organization’s strategy.

With the addition of this new Cyber Insurance Program, we now have three options available under the SARC Insurance Program: • • •

Property & Liability Insurance Directors & Officers Liability Insurance Cyber Insurance

For more information on any of these, please feel free to contact Hernard Chan or Lynn Cross at Butler Byers: Phone: (306) 653-2233 or 1-877-467-7272 (INS-SARC) Email: myinsuranceteam@butlerbyers.com

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARCAN YEAR AT A GLANCE Welcomed over 1.2 million customer visits across the province.

Recycled over 433 million beverage containers last year.

Opened our 73rd SARCAN depot in the City of Warman.

Collected 88% of the beverage containers sold in Saskatchewan last year.

Increased the use of our Drop & Go line-skipping service, resulting in 291% more Drop & Go customer visits than the previous year.

Relocated our Outlook, Melville, and Regina-Fleury depots to new and improved facilities.

Expanded our employee training and education initiatives, including enhancing our online training platform, and expanded our use of virtual meeting technology.

Expanded and enhanced our safety efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, both for employees and customers.

Expanded our recycling services to include household batteries.

SARC Annual Report 2020/21

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Many Safe RETURNS SARCAN Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic Like all businesses around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on SARCAN’s operations.

This included a two and a half month closure of all SARCAN facilities, which ended with our safe reopening on June 15th, 2020. While almost every facet of our business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, what was not affected was SARCAN’s commitment to our employees and our dedication to providing a safe and effective recycling system to all residents of Saskatchewan.

Employee Safety Our employees are SARCAN’s greatest asset. All year long we endeavoured to do everything we could to keep all SARCAN employees safe and healthy. Some of our employee safety measures included: • • •

COVID-19 safe work procedures, including physical distancing, masking, plexiglass barriers, and expanded cleaning and hygiene procedures.

Training to all employees on COVID-19 and our new COVID-19 safe work procedures.

Up to date, accurate information on COVID-19, public health measures, and vaccination programs.

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Customer Safety SARCAN is nothing without its dedicated customers across Saskatchewan. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented the following safe visitation guidelines to protect all of our customers: •

• •

Created new protocols for customers, including physical distancing, depotspecific customer capacities, floor marking, mandatory masking, marshalled lineups, hand sanitization, and dedicated non-legislated drop off areas.

Encouraged the use of Drop & Go for lower contact and quicker visits to SARCAN. To expand our customer service efforts, SARCAN launched a new Recycling Guide position at all depots. The Recycling Guide is responsible for managing the flow of customers in and out of the depot, marshalling outside lineups, assisting customers with return options (including Drop & Go and bulk drop offs), and answering customer questions.

Return Volumes The COVID-19 pandemic and our temporary closure had an impact on customer visits and returns. Our closure created a backlog of materials, which meant longer lineups and busier depots when we reopened. The result was months of record-setting customer visits and container volumes. The depots and processing plants counted, shipped and processed a year’s worth of volume during nineand-a-half months of operations. Despite being closed to the public for almost three months, our SARCAN teams across the province worked hard to manage the influx of customers and containers. Thanks to these efforts, our overall return volume was only down 1% compared to the previous fiscal year.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Drop & Go REACHES NEW HEIGHTS Record High Usage of SARCAN’s Line Skipping Service We saw explosive growth in popularity for our Drop & Go line skipping service in its 7th year of operation.

Many customers have opted to use Drop & Go rather than wait for counter service. These customers see Drop & Go as a quicker, safer way to return containers. Word-of-mouth is also building and we have implemented new systems and new payment options, making our already popular line-skipping service even more attractive.

Growing Popularity Drop & Go visits now account for 11% of SARCAN’s total customer transactions across the province.

Drop & Go is especially popular in Saskatchewan’s major cities, where 26% of Saskatoon customers and 18% of Regina customers are choosing to use Drop & Go. Interest in Drop & Go among the general population also grew last year, with 71% of Saskatchewan residents stating that they were interested in using or were already using Drop & Go. This is up from 54% the previous year. There is also an increased awareness of Drop & Go, as 86% of the general population is now aware of this return option, up from 72% of the population the previous year.

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More Transactions SARCAN paid out over 136,000 Drop & Go transactions last year, which is a 291% increase in transactions over the previous year.

New Users Last year we added a staggering 48,000 new active Drop & Go users to the system.

This is 308% growth in Drop & Go users from the previous six years of operation.

Not only are we seeing huge amounts of new users, but we are also seeing increased repeat customers, suggesting that customers are making the switch to Drop & Go and sticking with it as their preferred return option.

More Payment Options SARCAN added Interac e-Transfer as a third payment option for Drop & Go, making the service quicker and more convenient for our customers. This has been the most widely requested service change by Drop & Go users, and a large amount of our users are making the change. So far, 26% of Drop & Go customers have opted to receive their Drop & Go payments by Interac e-Transfer.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Celebrating OUR EMPLOYEES SARCAN employees make a difference in our communities every day. That’s why we are always excited to celebrate the outstanding work of our dedicated team of SARCAN recyclers and recognize their many years of loyal service. While we couldn’t celebrate with our team in-person like we usually do this past year, we are proud to acknowledge and celebrate the following.

14

28 15 year award recipients

10 year award recipients

SARC Annual Report 2020/21

9 30 year award recipients

39

25 year award recipients

7

5 year award recipients

7

31

20 year award recipients

Combined with our 14 retirees, these employees represent 1,524 years of recycling experience at SARCAN. We are looking forward to recognizing this group of amazing SARCAN Recyclers when we can return to hosting in-person events.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Improving the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Four State-of-the Art Depots open across the province!

Welcome to Warman...Our 73rd Depot!

This year we expanded SARCAN’s collection network with our depot in the City of Warman. The facility is the first SARCAN depot to include conveyor belt technology to move containers from our chutes directly into the flatteners. This depot was designed to help our team process container orders faster, more safely, and more efficiently.

SARCAN Warman opened to great fanfare from the community on June 15th. In one shortened year, our Warman team collected 7.7 million containers and served 18,838 customers, making it the 19th busiest depot in Saskatchewan.

Improving our Capacity and Efficiency

Top: New depot in Warman, opened June 2020

We continued to make significant investments in our existing SARCAN depots as well. SARCAN completed depot renovations at our Prince Albert Main and Maple Creek depots to enhance our customer reception areas and expand processing space. We also continued to invest in new equipment to improve our safety and efficiency, including new electric forklifts and high efficiency flattening equipment.

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New and Improved Depots in Outlook, Melville, and Regina Our Outlook depot relocated to a new building on November 2nd, 2020. This new depot, operated by Variety Place Association, features more space for customers, more room for staff to process containers, and new flattening equipment.

The SARCAN Depot in Melville, operated

by Rail City Industries, opened the doors to their new depot February 26th, 2021.

The new location has a new separate Drop & Go room for quicker returns. Melville’s new depot is also double the size of the previous location, and has improved lifting and trailer loading capacity.

We relocated the Regina Fleury Street depot to the new neighbourhood of Harbour Landing, which means that each of our Regina locations can reach a wider service area. The new and expanded facility, operated by Harvest Community Inc., features a separate room for Drop & Go with twice the capacity for customers, more space for serving bulk customers, automatic doors, and energy efficient lighting.

Top: Regina Parliament opened in Spring 2021 to replace Regina Fleury depot.

Below: Increasing Capacity and Efficieny at the new depot in Melville

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Customer Research

SURVEY RESULTS

SARCAN can’t succeed without the passionate and dedicated recyclers of Saskatchewan. Last year our team welcomed 1,218,268 customers to our 73 depots, which is a staggering show of support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year we strive to improve the customer experience at SARCAN to meet and exceed our customer’s expectations.

We annually seek customer feedback to guide the future of our business.

Customer Research Study Our annual customer research survey helps us gauge our customer’s attitudes and opinions about our business, and helps us identify potential areas for growth.

Friendliness of employees

9%

Helpfulness of employees

10%

Accuracy of count

6%

Outside cleanliness (parking lots) Available Accuracy ofInformation count (Signage & Posters, pamphlets) Inside cleanliness (floors, walls, counters) Speed of service

Brand Awareness (SARCAN)

80%

Our hours of operation

86%

Our Drop & Go service

92%

SARCAN accepts milk containers

85%

SARCAN pays deposit refunds for milk containers

41%

13%

43%

12%

41%

16%

35% 40%

Satisfied

94%

49%

94%

43%

90% 6% 41%

96%

39%

92% 93%

37%

38%

18%

Very Satisfied

51%

36%

18%

Smell/Odor

Customer Awareness Level

100%

34%

35%

86%

27%

85%

Somewhat Satisfied

Best Part of SARCAN

30%

46% Creates employment opportunities, including those experiencing disability Another reason:

Pays money for recyclables

23%

1%

Helps protect the environment through recycling

Drop & Go Customer Satisfaction

96%

of Drop & Go customers are satisfied with the service

Our research shows that Drop & Go users are overwhelmingly happy with their SARCAN experience.

Also impressive is how many Drop & Go users are promoters of the line skipping service. Drop & Go users are extremely likely to recommend the service to friends and family, with a net promoter score of 86. This shows tremendous amount of loyalty to Drop & Go and is indicative of very positive word-ofmouth promotion by our Drop & Go users.

Our Response to COVID-19 As part of efforts to protect the health and safety of customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, we solicited feedback from customers about our safe visitation procedures at SARCAN.

97% Approved of safety measures

3% Didn’t approve

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Powering Up SARCAN NEW HOUSEHOLD BATTERY RECYCLING PROGRAM This past year, SARCAN was proud to expand our recycling services beyond beverage containers, paint, and electronics to include household batteries! Launched on January 2nd, 2021, this additional service means more reasons for our customers to visit SARCAN, and more waste diversion from Saskatchewan’s landfills.

SARCAN is providing this service in partnership with Call2Recycle, an industry association made up of battery manufacturers and retailers whose mandate is to responsibly manage the end-of-life of batteries. The partnership not only expands the number of Call2Recycle battery drop off locations in Saskatchewan, but provides highly visible and more accessible drop off locations to more residents in more Saskatchewan communities.

Customers are able to drop off eligible batteries at all SARCAN depots during regular business hours. Each depot has collection boxes where customers can bag and drop off their batteries. Once boxes are filled, our processing plants ship these batteries to battery processors to be transformed into new materials, like new batteries and steel products.

The response from SARCAN customers has been outstandingly positive. In just three short months, our depots collected over 11,000 pounds of batteries, equivalent to approximately 185,000 AA batteries!

Battery recycling is an important service for SARCAN to provide to our customers.

It helps prevent another hazardous waste product from entering Saskatchewan landfills and contaminating our land, water, and air.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Employee Development INVESTING IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND EDUCATION SARCAN Recycling is a leader in employee training and development in the recycling industry. Each year we invest thousands of hours into the professional development of all SARCAN employees. Making sure our teams across Saskatchewan feel confident, knowledgeable and empowered not only leads to safer and more productive workspaces, but also leads to enhanced customer service.

Once again this year, our training and education initiatives have sustained our commitment to employee development.

Onboarding SARCAN led a record high 412 new employees through our full onboarding process. This includes new full time employees, work placements, job coaches, as well as seasonal and temporary staff brought in for our busy summer months. Our onboarding process provides new employees with clear expectations and guidance, expanded training opportunities, opportunities for coaching conversations, and opportunities for peer-to-peer learning with their co-workers.

Leadership Training This year’s annual Leadership Training session for SARCAN Supervisors focused on Leadership Skills Mastery in a conference-style presentation. Session topics this year included understanding your leadership style, change management, effective communication, common employee accountability issues, and recruiting new employees. This year’s session was hosted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Aspire Online Learning Aspire, SARCAN’s online training portal, remains a key tool for training all SARCAN employees.

This past year we dedicated a record high 37,522 hours’ worth of employee time to training, a 96% increase in training hours from the previous year.

This significant increase is attributed to the record high level of new employees hired, new training opportunities we added to Aspire, and a large amount of employees focusing on training and retraining during SARCAN’s closure.

SARCAN added 15 new training opportunities to Aspire this past year, including new training for: • • • • •

SARCAN COVID-19 safety program, and our new Recycling Guide position Battery recycling SARCAN Benefits package (including Health Benefits, Pension Plan, and EAP) Expanded safety training for using fire extinguishers and working with propane New equipment training for TOMRA conveyor belts and power pallet jacks

To date, SARCAN’s Aspire platform provides SARCAN employees with 57 unique training and education opportunities.

This past year we migrated Aspire to a new learning management system through LearnUpon. This upgraded training system helps us provide training and educational opportunities in new formats and gives our Supervisory staff greater access to employee training and records.

Tab Talks Our Tab Talks professional development series this year focused on expanding our employees’ confidence and skills using computers. SARCAN has greatly expanded our use of technology over the past five years, and this year’s sessions aimed to enhance our computer skills. Session topics included how to use common Microsoft platforms (Outlook, Word, Excel), how to do more complex functions with our Point-of-Sale systems, using the internet, and maintaining privacy and security in the digital age.

CAN’ned Wisdom SARCAN continued our popular CAN’ned Wisdom employee education sessions this year, hosting another 9 sessions. This year featured presentations on internal theft checks, mental health, team building, employee accountability, and dealing with difficult customer situations.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARC/SARCAN FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS SARC

SARC’s total revenue was $2.7 million, up slightly from the previous year.

The pandemic resulted in lower expenses in training and travel costs.

SARC has three main sources of revenue. The first is a contract with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services and the second is a contract with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Immigration and Career Training. This contract revenue was not impacted by the pandemic and the amounts received were comparable to the year before. The third main source of revenue is education and training revenue which was impacted by the pandemic. The virtual conference format and delivery changes for the training sessions saw a decrease in the related revenues. SARC total revenue was $2.7 million which was up slightly from 2020.

SARC expenses decreased from the prior year. While all operations continued during the year, there were pandemic impacts that resulted in reduced costs. The virtual conferences and training sessions reduced the event costs related to catering and location costs. The pandemic restrictions also forced a reduction in travel which resulted in lower meeting and travel costs. SARC total expenses were $2.5 million which was down from 2020.

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SARCAN SARCAN has two main sources of revenue. The first is a contract with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment which provides a grant with the amount linked to the environmental handling charges that are paid on beverage containers purchased in the province. In the current year, we saw an increase in this contract revenue due to the fee changes that were implemented two years ago. Our contract revenue was not impacted by the pandemic. Our other major source of revenue is the sales of the salvage material from the beverage containers returned by SARCAN customers. This revenue was significantly impacted by the pandemic as we had zero sales in April and May while our depots were closed, and once the

The pandemic brought a decrease in SARCAN’s salvage revenue and an increase in expenses through increased health and safety measures.

container volumes returned the market prices for the materials were at an all-time low.

SARCAN expenses increased $5.1 million over the prior year. There were approximately $3.5 million of additional costs directly related to our pandemic response and additional costs incurred due to the pandemic’s impact on our operations. This $3.5 million does not include the wages and benefits paid during the two-and-a-half-month system closure, as we continued to pay our employees during this time from our standard operating grant which was made possible with support from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.

Other costs directly related to our pandemic response and COVID-19 safe work procedures included the additional safety measures and precautions that were put in place at the depots across the province. These items included physical barriers, physical distancing signage and traffic control measures for line-ups, increased cleaning supplies to carry out enhanced cleaning of the facilities, Recycling Guide positions to direct and manage customer traffic, hand wash and sanitizing stations, etc. Costs incurred due to the pandemic also included additional labour required to handle the increased volumes at both the depots and processing plants (extra shifts, additional staff hours, over-time hours), and additional trailers required to transport the containers.

In the non-legislated program, there was a significant decrease in volumes of used paint and end-of-life electronics returned which directly impacted the revenue and expenses. The nonlegislated program also saw the addition of battery recycling on January 2, 2021 which offset some of the decrease in the paint and electronics returns.

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

Financial Report SARC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SARC’s operations encompass a variety of services and activities in support of the disability service sector. These include Member Association Activity, Education & Training, Consultants (Human Resources Consultant, Labour Relations Consultant, and Facility Planner), Projects [Supported Employment Transition Initiative (SETI)] and Administration.

Year Ended March 31 (in $000s):

2021

2020

Revenues

$2,727

$2,722

Grants - Operations

1,624

1,599

Grants - Projects

460

479

Education & Training

67

249

Other

576

395

$2,533

$2,720

Member Association Activity

215

234

Education & Training

912

998

Consultants

424

422

Supported Employment Transition Initiative

460

479

Administration

338

406

Amortization

184

181

$194

$2

Expenses

Excess of Revenue over Expenses

SARC Annual Report 2020/21

SARCAN FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SARCAN Recycling is a Division of SARC. SARCAN Recycling’s operations are divided into 2 main Programs – Legislated, which is the collection and recycling of used beverage containers and is legislated by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, and Nonlegislated, which includes used paint, end-of-life electronics, and household batteries (as of January 2, 2021).

LEGISLATED PROGRAM (USED BEVERAGE CONTAINERS)

Year Ended March 31 (in $000s):

2021

2020

Revenues

$44,156

$36,826

Expenses

$41,199

$36,145

Excess of Revenue over Expenses

$2,957

$681

# of Legislated Containers Returned

433.3 million

438.3 million

# of Total Containers Returned

436.9 million

442.1 million

NON-LEGISLATED PROGRAM (USED PAINT, END-OF-LIFE ELECTRONICS, HOUSEHOLD BATTERIES)

Year Ended March 31 (in $000s):

2021

2020

Revenues

$808

$1,066

Expenses

$761

$934

Excess of Revenue over Expenses

$47

$132

3.85 million

5.30 million

LBs of Material Collected

41

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SARC Annual Report 2020/21

New Options FOR SARC‘S PENSION AND BENEFITS PROGRAM The 2020/2021 fiscal year saw various enhancements and options added to the pension plan and three benefits plans that SARC administers on behalf of our Members and SARC/ SARCAN Recycling.

As we are always looking for ways to improve our services and enhance our Members’ experience with us, we issued a survey in early 2021 to employers participating in SARC’s group health, pension, and EAP programs so they could share feedback on their experiences on these programs.

Results are being analyzed and reviewed to help inform SARC of potential areas to further develop our programs.

Pension Plan SARC is the Administrator of a multi-employer defined contribution Pension Plan on behalf of our Members and SARC/SARCAN Recycling. Presently, the SARC Pension Plan has 119 divisions, which represent 87 individual organizations across Saskatchewan and more than 4,700 individual plan members. At March 31, 2021, the pension plan had assets in excess of $110 million.

For the year ending March 31, 2021 the Balanced Fund, which holds the majority of the participant funds, had a one-year return of +20.5%, with a 6.9% return over 4 years.

The second largest concentration of plan member funds is in the Target Date Funds, which had a one-year return of 19.9% and an 8.4% return over 4 years. This reflects the economic recovery from the prior year as investment values declined at March 31, 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New TFSA SARC added a Group Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) option through Co-Operators in January 2021. This option is open to all employers who participate in the SARC Pension Plan. SARC’s Group TFSA provides participating employers with another means to support their employees in achieving their financial goals. It is a voluntary, non-matching program that employees can opt into. It requires no minimum hours and there is no maximum age restriction for participants.

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Benefits Plan SARC administers two group benefits plans on behalf of 65 community-based organizations as well as a third benefit plan for SARC/ SARCAN Recycling employees across the province. In total, there are 100 divisions covering more than 2,000 employees.

NEW Addition of Tiered Benefits Option SARC added the option of being able to tier in the group benefits plan, providing organizations the flexibility to meet their strategic recruitment and retention goals and remain competitive.

Tiering can be an integral part of the compensation structure to attract, retain and reward employees.

NEW Optional Life Open Enrolment Campaign An open enrolment campaign is a set period of time where an active employee can apply for guaranteed additional optional life benefits without completing a health statement (e.g. medical questionnaire) for themselves and their spouse, if they choose. Normally, this occurs when a plan has been newly initiated, as was the case when SARC first joined Sun Life a few years back. However, SARC negotiated this additional open enrolment period from October 1–31, 2020, to provide plan members

a new opportunity to receive additional optional life without completing a health statement. This new open enrolment period was especially exciting as it allowed employees who joined the plan at a later date, and those who did not take advantage of the previous session, an opportunity to get this great benefit they would not have otherwise had. SARC worked with Sun Life to offer an increased amount from $50,000 to $100,000 coverage without a health statement requirement.

NEW Wellness 70+ for SARC and SARCAN Employees At the beginning of 2021, SARC and SARCAN were excited to launch a new addition to our comprehensive benefits offerings for SARC/SARCAN employees. Wellness 70+ is a new program to meet the needs of eligible SARC/SARCAN employees who have aged out of current health and pension plans. It provides these employees with an annual allotment and the flexibility to choose whether to put it towards an HSA (Health Spending Account), TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account), or split it between the two.

SARC 111 Cardinal Crescent Saskatoon SK 306 - 933 - 0616 contact@sarcan.sk.ca www.sarcsarcan.ca