After 18 years of litigation, a settlement has delivered $7 million to former employees of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. involved in two class action cases over their pension plan’s actuarial surplus. In the twin cases of Lacroix v. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and McCann v. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., almost two decades […]
Global defined contribution plan assets are growing faster than defined benefit pension assets, according to a new report by the Thinking Ahead Institute and Willis Towers Watson. Over the past 20 years in the seven largest pension markets (Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States), defined contribution plan assets grew at a rate of […]
Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 561 in Coquitlam, B.C., have voted to transfer active employees from the School District No. 43 non-teaching pension plan into the British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan. Terms of the deal include a four per cent wage increase to cover the difference in pension contributions between the two […]
While construction giant Carillion is grappling with a massive pension deficit in its British operations, the Canadian arm, which filed for bankruptcy protection this week, has a much smaller shortfall. Among the struggles plaguing the British parent company is a defined benefit pension deficit of about $1 billion. In Canada, documents filed by Carillion Canada […]
Aon Hewitt has developed a series of 10 questions for pension trustees to use to make sure they’re getting the most out of their relationships with advisors. Applicable to both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, the questions are part of an effort to create tools trustees can use to perform their responsibilities with greater confidence, […]
While 2017 was a relatively uneventful year in terms of legislative changes affecting pension plans, 2018 promises to be more significant, at least for many defined benefit plan sponsors in Ontario. The changes to the Ontario Pension Benefits Act scheduled to come into force during the coming year include: Funding and governance policies: Plan administrators will need to establish […]
Alcoa Corp. is freezing its defined benefit pension plan for Canadian and U.S. salaried employees. Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the change affects approximately 800 workers who will move into defined contribution plans. The defined benefit plan will close on Dec. 31, 2020, with benefits earned up to that point protected, according to the bauxite and aluminum producer’s fourth […]
A proposed guideline setting out standards for the disclosure of intermediary compensation in group benefits and retirement services could have a big effect on the market. Dave Patriarche, president of Mainstay Insurance Brokerage Inc. and founder of Canadian Group Insurance Brokers Inc., is supportive of compensation disclosure and says the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s new guideline makes […]
Manitoba’s Liberal Party is concerned about a number of pension plan design changes put forth by the province’s Conservative government in a public review earlier this month. “We are extremely concerned about the direction the Pallister government is taking on pensions,” Dougald Lamont, the leader of the Manitoba Liberals, said in an email to Benefits Canada. The […]
Whether plan sponsors expect a bear or a bull market in 2018, if they’re in a position to de-risk their pension plan, they should do it now, according to two investment consultants who spoke at an event in Toronto on Thursday. “From our perspective, if you look at the world over the last six years, […]