As lobbying efforts intensify to keep Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ employees in the public service pension, plans are moving ahead to convert a multi-union, multi-employer plan into a target-benefit arrangement. Collective agreements ratified in September 2015 between the United Steelworkers union and CNL state that employees hired before that date would stay in the public plan until September 2018, […]
If re-elected, the Ontario Liberals are promising to expand access to workplace pension plans in the private sector, improve portability and create options for the self-employed and other workers to opt into. With just three weeks to go before Ontarians head to the polls, the party also said it would help ensure that pensioners receive greater priority […]
Public sector pension plans often come under criticism for what some observers suggest is the high costs paid by taxpayers to fund generous benefits. A new report from the United States, however, suggests public sector plans actually generate revenue for governments. The analysis by advocacy group the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems found […]
With the aging of Canada’s population, the move to defined contribution pension plans in the private sector and increases in life expectancy, the issue of decumulation is growing in importance. Decumulation deals with converting retirees’ savings into periodic income that must last for the rest of their lifetime. That can be a challenge for Canadians who […]
The terms of a settlement for Wabush Mines’ former employees and retirees are now available, including an $18-million payment to address a $28-million pension shortfall and an estimated $10.9 million to compensate for the loss of health benefits. The settlement affects 1,700 pensioners and former unionized employees of the Newfoundland and Labrador-based mine owned by Cleveland Cliffs Inc., according […]
Three years after Wabush Mines filed for restructuring, its former employees and retirees will see an increase to their pensions, following a previous reduction of between 21 and 25 per cent, as a result of a proposed settlement in the matter. While the amounts won’t be public until the court overseeing the company’s insolvency approves a settlement in principle, […]
The funded status of the Segal Group Inc.’s model multi-employer pension plan dipped to 98 per cent during the first quarter of 2018, down from 101 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, according to a new report. Canadian equities took the lead in dragging the fund lower, partially due to its higher weighting […]
Pension plan sponsors can save money by ensuring their plan texts and other communications materials are free of mistakes, says Mitch Frazer, a partner and the chair of the pensions and employment practice at Torys LLP. At a pension and benefits fundamentals program held by the Toronto chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists […]
Sears Canada Inc. pension plan members are facing bleak prospects for getting their full pension payouts, according to a Toronto bankruptcy lawyer. “They won’t be made whole, regardless of how we look at this,” says Lou Brzezinski, a partner at Blaney McMurty LLP. The comments follow the filing of a recent affidavit by Philip Mohtadi, […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans held steady in positive territory in the first quarter of 2018 with returns of 0.2 per cent, according to RBC Investor and Treasury Services. That’s down, however, from returns of 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 and 4.4 per cent in the final quarter of last year. Canadian equities took […]