Canada’s defined benefit pension plans saw continued improvements in their solvency positions during the second quarter of 2018, according to Mercer’s latest pension health index. Representing the solvency of a hypothetical plan, the index stood at 107 per cent as of June 29, 2018, up one percentage point from the end of the first quarter. […]
Visitors to BenefitsCanada.com who type in a web address for a broken link will find a page with a lighthearted reply that reads: “Like a newly launched defined benefit plan, this page also does not exist.” It doesn’t seem like a wild claim to make, but one employee at a pension plan did, at one […]
Facing a $10.3-million pension deficit in 2016, the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa had some tough decisions to make. It felt that closing its defined benefit plan, converting to a defined contribution arrangement or cutting benefits were all out of the question. But with the Ontario government having enacted regulations in 2015 to permit the […]
Ken Eady understands the challenges a defined benefit pension plan can present for plan sponsors, particularly when they find themselves in financial difficulty. “Healthy companies aren’t always too crazy about the liability, so it can become a heavy weight to carry when there is trouble maintaining financial status. That’s why they seem to generally be […]
Since 2011, Norway’s national pension provider has been calculating the life expectancy of those turning 61 as part of pension reforms introduced at that time. It then factors the calculation into the pension benefits people in that cohort will receive. The National Insurance Scheme, which is the standard public pension Norwegians pay into during their […]
Bombardier Inc.’s 2,100 production and office workers operating in Toronto will see improvements to their pension and dental benefits, as well as the introduction of a retirement incentive scheme, as part of the latest collective agreement between Unifor Local 112 and the company. The pension increases, which amount to an additional $6 each month per year of […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities has published draft guidance for plan administrators and third-party consultants to help them search for missing pension members. The task of locating members and beneficiaries has often placed a significant burden on pension plan administrators. They can’t complete plan windups (including partial terminations) until they’ve distributed all pension […]
Some 61 per cent of Ontarians said they have or anticipate having low liquid retirement assets, according to new research by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Its research, prepared by Saisai Zhang, Mary Hardy and David Saunders of the University of Waterloo’s department of statistics and actuarial science, looked at the anticipated concerns of those between the ages […]
Torstar Corp. has entered into an agreement to merge its eight registered defined benefit pension plans with the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan. The merger will take effect Oct. 1, 2018, subject to closing conditions and approvals, including the consent of Torstar plan members and the approval of Ontario’s superintendent of financial services. If […]
Sears Canada Inc. retirees are facing clawbacks to their pensions due to 10 months of overpayments. Since October 2017, the retailer’s former employees have been receiving 100 per cent of their entitlement, rather than the reduced rate that aligns with the plan’s underfunded status. Morneau Shepell Ltd., the firm overseeing the plan’s windup process, originally […]