The evolution of pension plans from retirement tools to encompassing flexible savings models that prioritize financial wellness is a defining change over the past 25 years in the defined contribution pension industry, said Wendy Mizuno, senior vice-president of total rewards at Loblaw Companies Ltd, during a panel session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit in March.

“It’s really the evolution of how we — as a society and employers — are thinking about the programs that we set up for our colleagues.”

Basil Rowe, vice-president of total rewards at Sobeys Inc., agreed, adding total rewards now cover a variety of aspects for employees, with a shift in the amount of attention put on retirement savings. “That used to be a separate conversation and it’s now our leaders who are paying attention to that and saying, ‘Well listen, I want to go and have that conversation with our teammates.’”

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Among Sobeys’ roughly 128,000 employees, 33,000 are enrolled in one of its DC plans. Recently, the plan administrators completed a review that indicated the need to increase the equity component because plan members are now living longer, he said. “We’ve also smoothed [our own] glide path, so we’re very proud of our history and our investment in pensions.”

For its part, Loblaw’s has six corporate pension plans covering $4 billion in assets with about half dedicated to the defined benefit model and about $1.8 billion in the DC plan and other savings programs. “It’s a very complicated environment and for us to use our scale and enjoy the efficiencies of what we can offer our colleagues, we’re really trying to simplify our lives by consolidating the number of plans we have,” said Mizuno.

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Also speaking on the panel, Blair Richards, chief investment officer at the Halifax Port ILA/HEA, said he isn’t a fan of the shift from DB to DC plans for most corporate plan sponsors in Canada, but he does appreciate the stronger focus on the individuals with a holistic approach. When he started in the industry, there was just a one-size-fits-all approach for DB plans with no customization.

When the organization first moved to incorporate the DC plan model in 1985, he said, plan members objected to not knowing how much pension income their retirement savings would really provide. “In those days, if you came in to take our advice on retirement, we would only talk to you about our plan. . . . Now, we take that holistic approach and put it together for them and show them what they can do with respect to a guarantee to address longevity but some flexibility to address higher needs in earlier years.”

Read more coverage of the 2025 DC Plan Summit.