The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is releasing a consultation draft of revisions to its guidelines for capital accumulation plans. The updated guidelines replace the 2004 document and reflect the expectations of regulators regarding the operation of a workplace CAP, regardless of the regulatory regime applicable to the plan. Read: CAPSA developing multi-jurisdictional VPLA […]
Dillon Consulting Ltd. is supporting employees’ financial well-being through a student debt repayment program. The program allows employees to repay student debt by using employer contributions to the company’s deferred profit-sharing plan that match employee contributions to the group registered retirement savings plan, says Tanya Cross, a partner at Dillon Consulting. Read: Indigo to pilot Great-West […]
Contract food services and custodial workers at Canada’s colleges and universities have less access to pensions and paid leave than their in-house colleagues, according to a new report by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The report, which analyzed employment data from publicly funded post-secondary institutions, found only 23 per cent of contract food services employers […]
An article on the potential future of pension plans in the private sector was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Expert panel: Are private sector employers heading toward a pension renaissance? 2. A third of Canadian employees retiring sooner than planned: survey 3. Mental-health […]
As the move away from traditional defined benefit plans continues and intensifies, Canada’s multi-employer pension plans are providing employers with another retirement savings option for their employees. And despite facing a number of challenges, from industries in decline to legislative obstacles, MEPPs continue to attract plan sponsors from across the country. Read: Canadian MEPPs facing challenges […]
While Canadians nearing retirement age have seen a doubling in the median value of both their assets and net worth since 1999, the prospect of a comfortable retirement remains out of reach for many employees, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. It found a quarter of Canadians aged 45 to 64 […]
A third (33 per cent) of recently retired Canadians said they retired sooner than they planned and 30 per cent of pre-retirees intend to change their retirement date because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by RBC Insurance. It found Canadians are still largely relying on traditional retirement savings tools, such as […]
Pension coverage in the public sector is high, with the vast majority of public sector employees covered by a defined benefit pension plan. However, the story is very different in the private sector as pension coverage is much lower and is trending downwards. Only 22 per cent of private sector employees participated in a registered […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is urging the federal government to allow for tax-free mergers of maturing target-date funds. In a letter to the Department of Finance Canada, the PIAC said current tax rules don’t permit tax-free mergers of a target-date fund series into a terminal fund — where a target-date fund provider will […]
More workers may soon be able to stake some of their 401(k) retirement savings to Bitcoin, as cryptocurrencies crack even deeper into the mainstream. Retirement giant Fidelity Investments Inc. has launched a way for employees to put some of their 401(k) savings and contributions — potentially up to 20 per cent — directly in Bitcoin, […]