In the group benefits world, the first rumblings of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic came when plan sponsors started asking, as early as January, about their travel insurance provisions. “Clients were worried about their business travellers and expatriate employees, in China mostly, and afterwards for their employees travelling for their winter vacations,” said Daniel […]
The leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is calling on the provincial government to implement binding arbitration to end the months-long lockout and pension dispute between Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and its refinery workers. “This lockout has gone on far too long. The premier needs to show leadership and bring it to an end,” said Ryan Meili, […]
Defined contribution pension plan sponsors may face workforce planning challenges coming out of the coronavirus pandemic as older plan members whose account balances were hard hit by this year’s market volatility delay their retirements. “We saw a lot of presenteeism coming out of the [global financial crisis] — are we going to see that again?” asks […]
While the coronavirus pandemic certainly doesn’t change pension plan sponsors’ fundamental fiduciary duty to their plan members, the crisis is creating circumstances that will test how that responsibility manifests. Fiduciary duty arises when one party has a certain vulnerability in respect to another party, said Kenneth Burns, partner at Lawson Lundell LLP, in a webinar roundtable hosted by the […]
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted U.S. employers to make several changes to their health and retirement offerings, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. On the health benefits side, nearly all respondents (98 per cent) said they’re offering virtual health services, up 10 per cent from before the pandemic. And nearly half […]
To say things have changed since I wrote my last editorial is a massive understatement. Of course, the early rumblings of the coronavirus pandemic were already underway in the early weeks of 2020, but they were still very far removed from Canada’s reality. At the time of writing these words in mid-April, worldwide coronavirus cases […]
The United Way Greater Toronto introduced a defined benefit pension plan in 1965 and moved to a hybrid plan in 1990. While the DB side was fully paid by the employer, the defined contribution component allowed employees to contribute up to four per cent of their annual salary with a 50 per cent employer match. […]
Canadian pension rules and regulations are in need of reform in order to properly address the reality of the 21st century workplace pension landscape, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report, authored by Bob Baldwin, a pension industry veteran and chair of the C.D. Howe’s pension policy council, argued that the […]
Alongside a struggling global economy, Canadian capital accumulation plan sponsors and members are facing unprecedented challenges. This year, Benefits Canada‘s annual CAP Member Survey fielded its questions between March 30 and April 1, reaching respondents as they were in the midst of coming to grips with the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic. As in […]
The Canada Revenue Agency is waiving the one per cent minimum required employer contribution on defined contribution pension plans for the remainder of 2020. Registered DC plan sponsors are required to contribute at least one per cent of all active members’ pensionable earnings each year. But in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minister of National […]