Group Medical Services

Foundations for healthy living

We’ve been taking care of Canadian families since 1949 – before publicly funded Medicare was available in the province. When access to basic healthcare became available to everyone through Medicare, we stepped in to bridge the gap between publicly funded healthcare and the needs of its customers.

We introduced health insurance coverage for health care related costs not paid for by government, such as prescription drugs, ambulance services and private duty nursing. These core benefits are still the building blocks of the plans offered today.

Our goal is to offer Canadians choices and real value in health and travel insurance.

We focus on wellness first

Healthy and happy people create thriving communities, which is why we at GMS aim to put wellness first. All of our individual and group health benefits plans provide individuals with the access to care that ensures they are living their lives to the fullest and have coverage for care when they need it.

Our Mission

Empower Canadians to make positive healthy decisions through our wellness network, responsive products and personalized experiences.

Our Vision

Communities and individuals connected by a desire to continuously improve health and wellness.

Our Values

Caring: We care about our customers. We take the time to listen and understand what matters most.
Innovative: We’re innovative in smart ways. GMS employs a customer- responsive team that balances personal touch and advanced industry technology.
Easy: We’re easy to deal with. Simple. Upfront with our customers.
Positive: We’re positive. We look at problems as opportunities. Because we’re positive, we believe in and help our customers achieve their dreams of living well.
Real: We’re real. Down to earth, approachable and friendly.
Fair: We’re fair with our approach in everything we do.

Giving back to our communities

Throughout our 70-year history, GMS has made it a priority to give back. We’re in the business of helping people live well, so you might say it’s in our DNA to support health care and promote living well in the communities where we live and work.

Recent donations

Since 2014, we’ve contributed to the following programs and organizations through dedicated volunteer hours and financial donations.

Matching $1 million donation for Trauma Care – in 2017, we committed to match up to $1 million in donations to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation for the GMS Trauma Care Fund. Our commitment has helped generate a further $2 million in donations to provide more than $3 million to upgrade critical equipment for trauma care teams in Regina hospitals.
$500,000 for Cardiac Care – in 2014, our donation to the HRF introduced a state-of-the-art digital electrocardiogram testing, file management and storage system at the GMS Cardiac Rhythm Device Clinic at Regina’s General Hospital, and allowed for facility improvements to enhance patient comfort.
Presenting sponsor of the HRF Four Seasons Gala in support of Pediatric Services – since 2017, we have been proud presenting sponsor of this major fundraising event to support pediatric services in Regina hospitals.
Proud STARS ally – our involvement started with purchasing fuel for a life-saving STARS flight in 2016. Since 2017, we’ve been honoured to be presenting sponsor of the annual Night with STARS Gala fundraising event, and have members of our senior leadership team participating in the annual STARS Rescue on the Prairie fundraising competitions in both 2017 and 2018.
The Alzheimer’s Society and Diabetes Canada are just two of the organizations we have also assisted in recent years in their work to provide awareness, support and education to patients as they work to find cures and prevent these diseases.

Promoting wellness

We’ve been title sponsor of the GMS Queen City Marathon since 2017. This wellness-focused annual event promotes ‘a race for every pace’, engaging the Regina community and visitors from across North America with three days of races for all ages and abilities. We also support and encourage our staff to get involved in the GMS QCM. In 2018, more than one-third of staff walked or ran in at least one event and even more staff and family members volunteered, so that well over 60 ‘GMSers’ actively helped make the GMS QCM a success.

Employee volunteerism

GMS employees embrace volunteer opportunities to give back as part of our corporate charitable giving, including volunteering for the Night with STARS Gala and the HRF Four Seasons Ball. They also eagerly volunteer for fundraising activities that provide an opportunity to be active and have fun, including the Heart and Stroke Big Bike and the YMCA’s Endless Cycle, which helps vulnerable children in the community access YMCA programs and services.

Our employees also make use of the opportunity to give back provided through our Employee Volunteer Policy. Staff can use one paid work day annually to take part in blood donor clinics, volunteer with organizations from the Food Bank to Diabetes Canada, along with other health and wellness-related charities of their choice.

Meet our Executive Team

John Salmond

John is the President and CEO of GMS and GMS Insurance Inc. He joined the GMS Executive Team as Vice President, Sales & Marketing serving in that role for more than three years before being appointed President.

As head of GMS Sales and Marketing, he was the driving force behind launching the GMS LivingWell social media channels, the enhancement of the product lineup, investing in technology for customers and brokers, and most importantly continuing GMS’ legacy of community investment. In 2018, GMS donated over one million through the community matching program to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, raising over three million in support of trauma care initiatives.

John moved to Saskatchewan from Waterloo, ON, and has a B.A. in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier. He and his wife Semoine have been married for 19 years and have a daughter.

Balvinder Gill

Bal is GMS' Vice President of Operations, reporting to the President and CEO. She is responsible for GMS’ administration, call centre, health and travel claims and quality improvement teams.

Before her appointment to the senior leadership team, Bal was Director of Human Resources for GMS. She brings over 25 years of senior expertise to her Vice President's role, including 18 years with Lloyd’s TSB Group, a United Kingdom bank with international operations, and three years with Viterra, the international Agribusiness company. During her time with these organizations, Bal oversaw major business transformation and change management initiatives to support business acquisitions and integrate operations. She also honed her expertise in talent and performance management, employee engagement and strategic HR planning.

Bal is a graduate of the University of London, with a B.A. in Economics and Social Policy, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She is also a past board member with the Regina Food Bank.

Sarah Johnston

Sarah is GMS' Vice President of Sales and Marketing and reports to the President and CEO. As a member of the senior leadership team, she oversees our national sales team, broker administration, distribution strategies, marketing operations, and product development for all product lines, Visitor to Canada, Group Benefits, Individual Health and Travel Insurance.

She began her over 20 year insurance career in the Property and Casualty (P & C) business as a Personal Lines Insurance Broker. After completing her Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Saskatchewan majoring in human resources, Sarah moved into Group and Employer Benefits with Saskatchewan Blue Cross. There she held a number of increasingly senior HR roles, working in recruitment, training, employee benefits, compensation and organizational development, while earning designations as a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) and a Compensation Management Specialist (CMS). As part of the Blue Cross Management team Sarah led the Individual Product and Sales Division, where she oversaw Personal Health, Travel and Life Benefits, product development, broker & direct to consumer sales in addition to outbound customer service and operations.

Sarah’s volunteer activities reflect her passion for building relationships, understanding consumer behavior strategy and giving back to her community. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) and sits on the Regional Council for the Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute (CPBI). She volunteers with a variety of causes like STARS Air Ambulance, where she was recently one of a team of five senior business people in Saskatchewan challenged to raise over $500K in one day to help keep STARS in the air.

Kathy Lamont

Kathy is GMS' Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Reporting to the President and CEO, Kathy is a member of the senior leadership team. She is responsible for GMS' accounting, finance and treasury operations, and IT infrastructure.

Kathy's career spans more than 16 years in financial services. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree majoring in accounting from the University of Regina as well as her Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designations. From a senior auditor position with KPMG Canada, Kathy's move to GMS as a Financial Analyst launched her career in the insurance industry. Following a brief period as a senior Auditor for Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Kathy returned to GMS as Manager and then Director of Finance and Broker Administration before advancing to her current position.

Kathy's current volunteer activities focus on children’s sports and arts programs. A supporter of Toastmasters International, she is a past president of her local Toastmasters club.

Stephen Newport

Stephen is GMS’ Vice President of Information Technology and reports to the President and CEO. Responsible for leading digital transformation at GMS, Stephen oversees application and data warehouse development, solutions architecture and solutions delivery, and is committed to positioning GMS as a digital leader.

With over 20 years of senior leadership experience, Stephen has spent the last decade leading digital transformation, product design, web strategy, technology platform design and operations groups for category leaders including Rogers Media and its 157 brands. He gained invaluable insight into the health industry during his time as Vice President, Digital at MediResource Inc. – a health information provider that reaches over eight million unique visitors a month with content and personalized health information products across Canada and the United States. Prior to GMS, Stephen held the position of Vice President of Digital Solutions & Innovation at Economical Insurance & Sonnet Insurance and owned Sonnet.ca as a digital platform.

A Trent University graduate, Stephen is passionate about digital technology and supporting its growth within GMS.

Leah Reid

Leah is GMS’ Director of Human Resources, reporting to the President and CEO. She oversees all things culture and employee experience, including HR operational functions.

A life-long experiencer of food and wine, Leah started her career in the wine industry working in sales for a national boutique wine agency in Vancouver. She would later transition to head up the HR department for the same company. Returning home to Regina after 10 years in Vancouver, Leah took on a new challenge with Korn Ferry Hay Group where she worked as Leadership and Reward consultant for several years. Passionate about enabling people to achieve their true potential Leah is excited by the current and future challenges impacting the world of work.

Leah completed a degree in Business Administration with honours at the University of Regina. A Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR), and certified in multiple leadership and learning assessment tools, she is always looking for her next learning opportunity.

About GMS

A part of your community