Frontier HSA vs myHSA — Canadian HSA Provider Comparison

Choosing a Health Spending Account provider in Canada comes down to four concrete things: how the pricing actually works, how much of that pricing is visible before you sign anything, how the plan gets built and adjusted, and what happens the day an employee submits a receipt. This piece compares two providers, both founded in the same city, on exactly those terms. Health Spending Accounts have gone from a niche perk to something close to standard practice. A 2024 survey of Canadian Payroll Services found 40% of Canadian employers now offer one, up from a smaller share in 2017. That growth means the real decision facing most small business owners is not whether to set one up but which administrator actually fits how their business runs. It's which administrator actually fits how their business runs.

How each provider is positioned and who they are built for

Frontier HSA was started by Benji, Mitchell, and Matthias Visser out of Crossfield, Alberta, just outside Calgary. Benji had been paying $500 a month for group insurance he barely used, ran into the Private Health Services Plan structure buried in the tax code, and built a platform so other incorporated business owners could skip the insurance premium entirely and use the PHSP route instead.

That focus is visible in who Frontier HSA actually serves. It's built exclusively for incorporated Canadian businesses and their eligible shareholder-employees. Sole proprietors aren't part of the plan design, and Frontier HSA doesn't administer accounts for unincorporated businesses. Shareholder-employees need to be actively working in the business day to day; owning shares and collecting dividends alone doesn't qualify someone for reimbursements. Setup happens directly with the business, no broker or advisor in the loop.

myHSA, based in Calgary, started in 2013 as a cloud-based answer to what was, at the time, a paper-heavy industry. Rather than sell direct, myHSA built its distribution through advisors, over 4,000 of them across Canada, and most businesses end up on the platform because their benefits advisor put them there. The numbers reflect that reach: myHSA reports 22,000 SME customers and 168,000 employees on the system. The platform itself is customizable per advisor, so the branding and setup an employer sees depends partly on which advisor brought them in.

The split is structural. One is a self-serve tool built for incorporated professionals who want to manage things themselves. The other is an advisor-mediated platform open to businesses of any size, where the experience bends around whoever's selling it.

Fee structure and pricing transparency compared

Frontier HSA runs on one number: an 8% administration fee, charged only on approved claims. No setup fee, no annual fee, no monthly charge, no contract. If a business submits a $180 dental claim, the total cost is $194.40 before tax (the $180 reimbursement plus a $14.40 fee), and the employee still receives the full $180. If nobody files a claim in a given month, the business pays nothing that month. That rate is published on the website, so anyone can see the exact number without booking a call.

myHSA's pricing looks different depending on who you ask. Third-party comparisons have put myHSA's typical administrative fee around 10%, but that figure isn't published on myHSA's own site. Pricing there depends on the advisor and the plan design, and fees can get bundled together with other advisory services the business is already paying for. That's convenient if there's already an advisor relationship in place. It's a lot less convenient for an owner trying to comparison-shop on their own.

The gap between 8% and roughly 10% doesn't look like much on a single $180 claim, but it compounds fast once claim volume climbs. Generally speaking, percentage-only pricing with no standing monthly or annual charge tends to work out better for businesses with low or irregular claim activity, which describes a lot of solo incorporated professionals. And there's a second variable that matters just as much as the rate itself: transparency. One provider's entire fee structure sits on a public webpage. The other's depends on which advisor answers the phone.

What the tax savings look like in practice

The math behind an HSA is simpler than it sounds. An incorporated individual earning $100,000 a year in Alberta, at a 39.5% marginal tax rate, would need to earn $8,264 in pre-tax income just to cover $5,000 in medical expenses out of pocket. Every dollar spent on health care first gets taxed as personal income, then spent.

Running that same $5,000 through an HSA instead makes it a fully deductible corporate expense. With an 8% administration fee (about $400) added, the total cost to the corporation is around $5,400, paid with pre-tax corporate dollars instead of post-tax personal income. For context, Statistics Canada figures put average annual out-of-pocket health spending per Canadian household at roughly $2,776. An HSA can convert that entire amount from an after-tax personal cost into a pre-tax business expense.

One caveat applies everywhere and to everyone: Ontario treats employer HSA contributions differently than the rest of the country, and reimbursements there aren't fully tax-free to employees the way they are federally. That rule applies regardless of administrator, so it applies the same whether the plan runs through Frontier HSA or myHSA. What does change based on provider is the administration fee sitting on top of the tax savings. The 8% versus roughly 10% difference from the last section carries real weight beyond rounding. It's real money, year over year.

Plan design: contribution limits, carryover rules, and employee class flexibility

Frontier HSA publishes its plan rules. Annual contribution limits per employee can't exceed $15,000, and there's a built-in compliance safeguard: the highest limit anywhere in the organization can't be more than 10 times the lowest limit. Unused contribution room carries over for exactly one additional plan year before it's forfeited. So a $10,000 limit in 2024 with $9,000 claimed becomes an $11,000 limit in 2025, then resets from there. Multiple employee classes are supported, each with its own limit.

myHSA takes a broader approach. It supports both Healthcare Spending Accounts and taxable Wellness Spending Accounts, and employers can offer either one or both side by side. Plan design is highly customizable, largely because an advisor is involved in shaping it around the employer's specific goals. The tradeoff is that myHSA doesn't publish specific contribution limits or carryover rules anywhere public; those get confirmed during setup, through the advisor.

The real difference lies in how each provider hands the employer that information, since both plans run under the same PHSP rules and CRA allows the same thing either way. It's in how each provider hands the employer that information. Frontier HSA puts the numbers on the page before anyone signs up. myHSA offers more bespoke design, including the WSA option, but the specifics are confirmed through the advisor at setup rather than on a public page.

Eligible expenses: what employees can claim

The administrator does not decide eligibility. It comes straight from the Income Tax Act, as the CRA interprets it, and both providers operate inside that same boundary. Dental work, vision care, prescription drugs, physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, mental health and psychology services, IVF and fertility treatment, medical devices, hearing aids, and LASIK all qualify under both platforms. Gym memberships, purely cosmetic procedures, and non-prescription items without a documented prescription don't make the cut anywhere.

Where the two providers actually differ is in how an employee figures out whether something qualifies before they submit it. Frontier HSA runs a searchable database covering more than 180 CRA-eligible expenses, so a plan member can check ahead of time and cut down on rejected claims. myHSA leans on an in-house adjudication team to keep claims aligned with CRA rules, backed by advisor support for employers working through trickier eligibility questions.

Frontier HSA does not do medical underwriting, so there's no pre-existing condition exclusion for employees or their dependants on that platform. myHSA also layers in Wellness Spending Accounts, which cover taxable items like fitness and personal development that don't meet the CRA's PHSP criteria. That widens the total benefit an employer can offer, but it comes with a catch: reimbursements through the WSA portion count as taxable income for the employee, unlike HSA claims. For a business that just wants strict CRA-eligible health coverage, the actual list of what's covered is nearly identical between the two. The real difference is the tool: a searchable database versus an adjudication team plus advisor guidance.

Claims submission, reimbursement speed, and the day-to-day employee experience

On Frontier HSA, an employee snaps a photo of a receipt through the app or web portal, the claim gets checked against CRA rules, and reimbursement lands by EFT, usually within 24 hours for straightforward submissions. The corporation gets invoiced afterward for the claim amount plus the 8% fee, and there's no upfront funding required. The business pays as claims clear, not in advance. Trustpilot reviews (a small sample, 7 to 8 as of July 2026) call out smooth, automated registration and fast processing, with responsive support as a recurring theme.

myHSA's process runs through the same basic shape: employees submit online or through the app, and direct deposit reimbursement typically takes 1 to 3 business days. An in-house adjudication team reviews every claim for CRA compliance, and live chat support is available for advisors, employers, and employees alike. Plan administrators get real-time reporting on claim activity and remaining balances.

Both systems are digital, app-based, and worlds faster than the paper claims process that used to define this industry. Frontier HSA's stated 24-hour EFT timeline edges out myHSA's 1-to-3-day window, though myHSA's daily live chat is a genuine advantage for employers who expect a steady stream of employee questions. The bigger distinction might be structural: myHSA comes with an advisor relationship built in for ongoing help, while Frontier HSA is designed for owners who'd rather handle it themselves.

Administration tools, reporting, and technology infrastructure

Frontier HSA's platform runs on a React frontend and a Node.js backend, hosted on AWS. A February 2026 benchmark of seven Canadian HSA administrators flagged it as the only one, at that point, with publicly documented API access and MCP-compatible infrastructure, so a business could technically connect its HSA data to payroll or accounting software it already uses. Claim tracking is available digitally throughout the year.

myHSA's tools lean toward the advisor-and-employer relationship rather than raw integration. Plan administrators get real-time reporting on claims and balances, online enrollment and termination management, and advisors get their own branded dashboard and micro-site, useful for firms juggling several employer clients at once. myHSA also bundles in add-ons beyond the HSA itself: telemedicine, an EAP, travel and catastrophic insurance, online pharmacy services, and myCharity.

Which of these matters more depends entirely on the business. A lean, solo-run operation mostly wants a fast claim, a clear reimbursement, and a report the accountant can use come tax season, which is what Frontier HSA's stripped-down stack is built for. An employer who wants telemedicine or travel insurance bundled in alongside the HSA, all managed through one advisor, is going to get more mileage out of myHSA's wider ecosystem. API access matters mainly to businesses with existing payroll systems they actually want to connect. Most small businesses never touch that feature either way.

A structured side-by-side of the factors that decide the choice

Fee model. Frontier HSA charges 8% on approved claims only, with no setup, monthly, or annual fee, and the number is posted publicly. myHSA runs closer to 10% per one competitor comparison, though the actual rate varies by advisor and isn't published on myHSA's own site.

Fee transparency. Frontier HSA's full pricing is visible to anyone browsing the website, no conversation required. myHSA's pricing gets confirmed through the advisor, and may be bundled with other services.

Plan design. Frontier HSA publishes hard numbers upfront: a $15,000 per-employee cap, a 10X limit differential rule across classes, and one year of carryover before unused room disappears. myHSA offers more custom plan design, including the option to add a taxable Wellness Spending Account, but the specific limits and carryover terms come from the advisor at setup, not from a public page.

Eligible expenses. Both operate under the same CRA rules, so the coverage itself is essentially identical. Frontier HSA gives members a searchable database of 180+ eligible expenses to check before submitting. myHSA leans on an in-house adjudication team and advisor support instead.

Claims and reimbursement speed. Frontier HSA reimburses by EFT, typically within 24 hours. myHSA reimburses by direct deposit, typically within 1 to 3 business days, backed by daily live chat support.

Technology. Frontier HSA runs on a documented API with compatibility for structured data-sharing protocols, suited to businesses that want to connect HSA data to other systems. myHSA offers advisor-branded dashboards and a wider menu of add-ons like telemedicine and travel insurance.

None of this makes one provider universally better than the other. It makes them built for different businesses. Frontier HSA publishes its complete fee structure, 8% on approved claims, no setup or annual fees, right on its site, which matters most to an incorporated owner doing the math alone, without an advisor on retainer. A business that already has an advisor and wants a wellness account bundled in alongside health coverage is probably better served by that existing relationship. Either way, the decision isn't complicated once the numbers are actually in front of you. It just requires knowing which numbers to ask for.