With 2017 coming to a close and 2018 on the horizon, professionals in the pension, investment, benefits and human resources industries have a number of dates to add to their calendars for the new year. Jan. 1: Ontario’s new youth pharmacare program takes effect. It will provide universal coverage of all medicines listed in the Ontario Drug Benefit […]
As 2017 draws to a close, we turn our attention to the new year. As usual, there’s a lot happening in the Canadian pension environment. Below are four pension trends to watch for in 2018. 1. Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan reform The Canada Pension Plan enhancements will be phased in from Jan. 1, 2019, and the Quebec […]
While total pension wealth rose for an eighth consecutive year in 2016, the wealth of employer-based pension plans increased at a much weaker pace than the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. Total pension wealth rose 3.8 per cent to $3.6 billion by the end of 2016, following a 5.1 per cent gain in 2015. The wealth of employer-based pension plans rose 3.5 per cent to […]
At a meeting in Ottawa on Monday, Canada’s finance ministers agreed in principle to a number of additional features in the Canada Pension Plan enhancement that would help further protect the value of retirement benefits during periods of low or no earnings for parents, persons with disabilities and young widows. The proposed changes are: Further support […]
Despite coming improvements to public pension plans, Canada will still be about 10 percentage points behind the average net replacement rate for the typical worker across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Future OECD average replacement rates for the full-career, average-wage worker will reach 63 per cent, according to the organization’s annual report on pension systems […]
In its sixth year of offering employees educational workshops during Financial Literacy Month, Western University has changed its approach this time by delivering information on a range of topics rather than just the organization’s pension plans. In the past, the university has used the financial literacy focus to communicate the details of its two defined contribution plans, […]
A new report is recommending the immediate increase of the trigger age for drawing down registered retirement savings, suggesting it should continue to rise with longevity. The report, published by the C.D. Howe Institute, is targeting changes to age-sensitive programs, noting the expected budget crunch for Canadian governments as the workforce ages. It says the rules that dictate when Canadians can start receiving […]
Defined benefit pension plans have long included formulas for integrating the Canada Pension Plan into their contributions and benefits design. But with CPP contributions set to rise in 2019, the question of integration will be a consideration for the sponsors of defined contribution pension plans as well. CPP integration isn’t a particularly common feature of […]
The large number of Canadians who fear the Canada Pension Plan won’t be around when they retire reflects a misplaced belief, said Canada Pension Plan Investment Board president and chief executive officer Mark Machin on Tuesday. Machin discussed the sustainability of the national pension plan during his keynote speech at a 2017 symposium held in Toronto by Advocis, the […]
The Canada Pension Plan fund returned 2.5 per cent after all costs during the second quarter of fiscal 2018. It ended the second quarter with net assets of $328.2 billion, up from $326.5 billion at the end of the first quarter. The $1.7 billion net increase in assets for the quarter consisted of $2.3 billion in net income […]