After several years of development, two long-awaited national health-care initiatives are finally taking shape, raising questions about their impact to employer-sponsored benefits plans. In May, the Canadian Dental Care Plan was officially rolled out, providing dental coverage to Canadians who don’t have access to private dental insurance and whose annual net family income is less […]
Nearly 3,000 academic workers at York University are on strike after their union said the university didn’t meet their demand to “address the affordability crisis.” The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903, which represents contract faculty, teaching and graduate assistants, research assistants and part-time librarians, says picket lines went up at 11 a.m. Academic […]
B.C. Transit’s Fraser Valley bus drivers are joining the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology’s DBplus pension plan. After a strike action that lasted 124 days earlier this year, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 561 secured a new six-year contract agreement for its 213 members who work in the communities of Abbotsford, Agassiz-Harrison, […]
The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4554 at Memorial University and the university’s students’ union are ratifying a new four-year collective agreement that includes improvements to employees’ benefits and pay. The agreement includes a new fertility treatment clause that provides time off and financial support for employees seeking treatment, since there’s a lack of fertility […]
An article on the strike by Ontario education workers was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. CUPE’s Ontario education workers striking for extended benefits, wage increases 2. Stellantis, Unifor agreement includes pension and retirement gains 3. Sounding Board: How employers can better support employees […]
Ontario education workers are striking over extended benefits, short-term disability leave and wage increases, among other requests by the workers’ union the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The CUPE is asking the provincial government to provide additional funds to cover the increasing costs of medications and health and dental services, according to the CUPE’s Ontario […]
Ontario’s school support staff are moving toward a strike vote starting Sept. 23 over extended benefits, short-term disability leave and wage increases, among other requests by the workers’ union the Canadian Union of Public Employees. In its initial proposal, the CUPE is asking the government to provide additional funds to cover the increasing costs of […]
The union representing employees at the City of St. John’s, N.L. ratified a collective agreement that includes enhanced bereavement leave. The agreement increases bereavement leave from three to five days for a spouse, child/stepchild or grandchild. The term “legal guardian” will be added for a three-day entitlement and an additional paid day will be included […]
The United Way British Columbia and the union representing the organization’s employees have reached an agreement to increase extended mental-health coverage. The coverage, which has been increased to a combined maximum of $1,200 per person annually, can be used to access psychologists, registered clinical counsellors, social workers and online cognitive behavioural therapists, according to a press […]
When the coronavirus pandemic shook up the investment landscape last spring, Canadian pension funds were also jostled by the shock wave, with the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System among the hardest hit. And while the pandemic was an unprecedented event, such losses have raised the issue of whether Canadian pension […]