For all it’s worth, I have already given the recent Canada Pension Plan enhancement a passing grade. As I noted in our firm’s July report on the CPP, “a larger enhancement would have been strongly opposed by businesses while a smaller enhancement might have led to the balkanization of Canada’s retirement income system.” It might, […]
As the final weekend of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games kicks off, three of Team Canada’s national partners — Canadian Tire Corp., Deloitte and Royal Bank of Canada — are focusing on employee health and wellness by linking their summer campaigns to the global sporting event. While all three organizations already had annual wellness campaigns […]
While positive reinforcement in the form of bonuses, pay raises and awards is a common human resource tool, does it work when it comes to addressing absenteeism? While some companies have given performance awards to people who rarely called in sick, Julie Holden, a senior vice-president at SEB Benefits & HR Consulting, suggests it’s an […]
Employee health and engagement are among the priorities of human resources leaders as salary increases look likely to remain modest next year, according to a Morneau Shepell trends survey. The firm’s annual human resources trends survey released today puts projected salary increases for Canadian employers at 2.1 per cent for 2017. That’s down from the […]
CAA South Central Ontario has launched a new online wellness program, Getting to Your Gold, which provides employees with access to coaching from Canadian Olympians. The program, introduced by provider Morneau Shepell in February, features an online portal with Olympics-themed total wellness challenges as well as motivational videos, blog posts and other updates from Canadian […]
The growth in life expectancy for beneficiaries of Canada’s old age security program declined slightly in recent years in comparison to the rates of the previous decade, according to a recent study by Canada’s chief actuary. From 2010-13, the growth in life expectancy was 1.6 months per year. That compares to two months per year from […]
Pension investors have always relied on bonds as a steady source of diversification, capital preservation and a hedge for liabilities. But since the 2008 financial crisis, the once-sleepy fixed-income space has transformed into an ever-expanding universe of global bonds, credit and other new products meant to satisfy a growing appetite for yield. As interest rates […]
When Sandy Coughlin first joined B.C. health provider Providence Health Care in 1996, she didn’t see herself as much of a numbers person. Two decades on, the conversion is complete for the organization’s director of occupational health and safety. “I’m a data geek and proud of it,” she says. Coughlin’s moment of transformation came just […]
Much like the Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope and his search for an honest man, pension plan stakeholders have been seeking a sustainable plan design for years. The many designs plan sponsors have tried have typically functioned effectively only in a limited set of conditions. The problem is the world keeps changing. Recognizing it’s impossible […]
Automatically raising workplace pension contributions in tandem with the cost of living is unnecessary because Canadian retirees spend less money once they reach age 70, according to a new study. The report by the C.D. Howe Institute, which was published days before Finance Minister Bill Morneau is scheduled to meet with his provincial and territorial […]