With coronavirus vaccines rolling out across Canada, employers must consider the privacy and human rights implications of requiring vaccinations for their teams, says Shaun Parker, an associate with the law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. “In a mandatory-vaccination program, if an employee will suffer adverse effects due to a protected ground, the employer may have […]
A rally on the stock market in the fourth quarter helped boost the strength of Canadian defined benefit pension plans to end 2020, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The consulting firm said its pension health index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB plan, rose to 114 per cent at […]
While institutional investors are facing an “unquestionably brighter” economic outlook in 2021, challenges such as fluctuations in the U.S. and Canadian dollars still lie ahead, says Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Payments. In terms of the global growth landscape, he says crowded trades have been fuelled across several asset classes based on an […]
The year 2020 tested the mettle of entrepreneurs and small business owners like none other in recent history. And private equity firms operating in the small- and medium-sized business space were called upon like never before to help manage through the pandemic. For many business owners, 2020 has been about survival and making it through […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s struggles when the dot-com bubble burst planted the seeds for the liability-driven investing strategy it’s so well known for today. At the time, the plan had a traditional 60/40 portfolio of equities and bonds, and saw its significant funding surplus quickly turn into a deficit as equities took a […]
Central banks slowing their quantitative easing policies and economic improvements off the back of wide-scale vaccination efforts should both provide bond yields with a modest boost in 2021. But that won’t give defined benefit pension plan sponsors much relief. “You hear the phrase ‘low for long’ and I would agree we’re in an extended period […]
Sun Life Canada is launching a new virtual mental-health coach for plan members that taps into the power of predictive analytics. The virtual coach will launch in the first quarter of 2021, starting with a small number of clients, and after six months, the insurer will slowly bring more organizations on board. The insurer’s goal with the pilot program is […]
The Canada Revenue Agency is introducing a simplified process to claim up to $400 in office expenses for Canadians working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. The process will allow employees to claim these expenses as deductions on their personal income tax return for the 2020 tax year. Eligible employees can claim a deduction if […]
Nearly half of working Canadians (49 per cent) will be taking less or no vacation time this December as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey conducted on behalf of ADP Canada Co. The survey found 27 per cent of those respondents won’t take any time off at all during […]
As we approach the end of a truly challenging year with more uncertainty on the horizon for 2021, people all over the globe are adjusting to the new realities of their personal and professional lives. No one is unaffected. In a broad sense, the world of employment is now divided between people working at home […]