The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is updating its process for releasing guidance regarding assumptions for hypothetical pension windup and solvency valuations. For quarterly guidance relating to periods from March 31 to Dec. 30, June 30 to Dec. 30 and Sept. 30 to Dec. 30, an explanatory report providing supporting material will be issued after the […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is releasing final interpretation guidance to support the role and responsibilities of pension plan administrators. The guidance, an updated and consolidated version of four previous documents, said the administrator’s role includes responsibility for implementing processes to ensure pension plan risks — such as investment, funding, operational and legal — […]
A majority (72 per cent) of plan sponsors believe their retirement savings plan is meeting its goals this year, up from roughly 66 per cent in 2020, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments Inc. While 68 per cent said their employees are saving enough for retirement — up from 59 per cent in […]
The College of Applied Arts and Technology’s DBplus pension plan is welcoming more members of Canada’s legal community through an affinity agreement between the pension and the Canadian Bar Insurance Association. According to a press release from the CAAT, employees from 42 smaller law firms joined the DBplus plan in the first six months of […]
Purolator Inc. is adapting its benefits plan to proactively respond to employees’ mental-health needs amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company has expanded both the dollar value and scope of its mental-health benefits offering, including access to cognitive behavioural therapy and social workers, says Anna Manocchio, senior director of total rewards and human resources technology at […]
Recognition in not one, but two categories at Benefits Canada‘s 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards is helping get the word out to Scotiabank employees that the bank is a leading employer when it comes to benefits offerings, says Ayman Alvi, director of global benefits. Read: Who are the winners of the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards? “We participated in the Workplace […]
Substance use disorder is the largest unmanaged disease in modern health care, but few options exist that allow those affected to continue to work while being treated and that address plan members whose substance use issues aren’t visible in the workplace. “The overwhelming majority of substance use cases is invisible to the eye,” said Elliot […]
The vast majority (95 per cent) of Canadian working mothers said they didn’t receive any formal support from their employer during their maternity leave transition, according to a new report by advocacy group Moms at Work. The survey, which polled more than 1,000 Canadian women who took maternity leave in the last 10 years, found […]
Plan member challenges — from uncertainty about what their benefits plan covers to mundane issues such as struggling with passwords and difficulty accessing their benefits portal — become human resources concerns and create additional work for plan sponsors. That’s what Canada Life is attempting to address with its new My Canada Life at Work mobile-friendly […]
Just before the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Canada, Scotiabank made a pretty significant change to how it communicated about its benefits plans and programs with employees. With so much information available to employees, the bank realized it might not necessarily be easy to digest or understand, said Ayman Alvi, Scotiabank’s director of global benefits, during Benefits […]