While 2018 ushered in a number of significant changes to Ontario’s pension legislation, including a major revamping of the funding rules for defined benefit plans, additional pending changes are afoot for 2019. Other provinces, such as British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, are also reviewing solvency funding requirements for plans registered in their respective jurisdictions. […]
Readers were focused on the Canada Pension Plan and old-age security in 2018, with the top three most read stories tackling those topics. Benefits Canada rounds up the industry’s favourite pension and retirement stories of the year: 1. New CPP, OAS benefit amounts take effect for 2018 2. Increase to OAS benefits takes effect July 1 3. Why aren’t Canada’s public […]
An animal welfare charity is facing legal action from a former employee who says he was fired after raising concerns about the organization’s pension investments and its links to companies that engage in animal testing. Jordi Casamitjana alleges the League Against Cruel Sports, a British charity that campaigns against activities like dog fighting and hunting, […]
The 40 employees at Welkin Child and Youth Services in Woodstock, Ont. have voted to take strike action if they can’t reach a new collective agreement by Dec. 5, 2018. In a news release, the employees’ union, Unifor Local 302, said new management at Welkin has tabled concessions to certain benefits, specifically eliminating vision care, reductions to […]
Shifting demographics have always driven Canadian pension plan design, and the growth of the millennial generation as the largest portion of the workplace is no exception, according to Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s Joseph De Dominicis. “To me, shifting demographics are the key catalyst driving large global trends that in turn influence how we design pension programs, benefits […]
It’s been 40 years since Ted Benna, then a 36-year-old U.S.-based benefits consultant, noticed a new Internal Revenue Service section that had potential implications for cash-deferred savings plans. The section, 401(k), meant that employees in these plans would have to leave their money in them until just shy of their 60th birthday if they wanted to […]
While defined contribution plan design features such as auto-enrolment and auto-escalation aim to combat plan members’ poor behavioural tendencies, they could be leading to certain unintended consequences, according to a new report by BlackRock Inc. For example, if a plan is using both auto-enrolment and auto-escalation tools, there’s a chance that more members could opt out of additional savings, unless the […]
With many demands on employees’ money, could helping them build an emergency fund alongside their retirement savings make them more financially secure in the long run? Last week, Britain’s National Employment Savings Trust Insight began piloting its new sidecar savings program, which aims to optimize pension savings while helping workers maintain a reasonable amount of liquid savings […]
In my formative school years, it was mandatory for all students to learn cooking, carpentry and typing, among other non-academic pursuits. While I’m certainly grateful to have those life skills, as I get older I wonder why we weren’t taught to invest in the stock market, save for retirement or do our taxes. Generationally, I […]
With just about a month to go until the federal government’s long-awaited Canada Pension Plan enhancements kick in on Jan. 1, 2019, Scott Perkin is relaxed about the prospect. Although the changes have been billed as one of the biggest shakeups to the CPP since its introduction in the mid-1960s, Perkin, the director of pension […]