Plan sponsors and administrators finally have guidance on Quebec’s supplemental pension plan legislation, two years after initial amendments on Jan. 1, 2016. The regulations, which came into force on Jan. 4, 2018, don’t differ significantly from the draft version circulated for consultation last summer. The key features address annuity purchases, funding policies and variable benefits. Read: New pension […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has responded to Nova Scotia’s consultation on a new defined benefit pension funding framework, including how a target-benefit funding model could be linked to an enhanced going-concern funding model. The province’s consultation, which began in September 2017, put forward a number of options for a new framework, including: maintaining the current solvency funding standard […]
Canada’s demographic picture has changed significantly since the launch of the Canada Pension Plan in 1966. With census data showing more single-person households, is it time for the CPP and other defined benefit pension plans to update their plan design to reflect the new realities? Provincial legislation typically requires defined benefit plans to provide survivor pensions to […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has published a new mortality improvement scale as part of an effort to better reflect Canadians’ increased longevity and harmonize actuarial work in the pension and life insurance industries. The organization put together a task force to look into mortality improvement last year and, following a consultation process, issued a report in September. The report provided […]
Organizations representing Canada’s veterans say the government’s announcement of the long-awaited lifelong disability pensions has failed to live up to the Liberal’s election promise. Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan unveiled the new pensions in December, but the National Council of Veteran Associations and the War Amps of Canada are contending that they’ll have limited applicability to a majority of disabled […]
The Ontario Energy Board is ordering Ontario Power Generation Inc. to cut a substantial amount from its pensions and benefits costs by 2021. In a report published last week, the province’s energy regulator said the electricity provider must cut a total of $500 million from its nuclear operations budget over the next five years. While the regulator cited issues such as compensation, corporate and […]
Members of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa pension plan have voted in favour of joining the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan as of Jan. 1, 2018. With the merger, which was first announced in September 2017, the non-profit organization’s 300 active, retired and deferred plan members will receive a pension based on the CAAT plan’s provisions for service accrued after […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans moved into a stronger solvency position by year end 2017, largely due to strong equity markets. The Mercer pension health index, which assesses the health of a hypothetical plan, showed a 106 per cent solvency ratio on Dec. 29, 2017. The ratio was four percentage points higher than at the start of […]
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 […]
Bankruptcy and its impact on company’s pension plans was a big story in 2017, with Sears Canada Inc. and Stelco Inc. grabbing the most headlines of the year. Benefits Canada rounds up your favourite pension stories of 2017: Sears faces $300M retirement benefit shortfall as retailer seeks CCAA protection 2017 Top 100 Pension Funds Report: The evolution of DB […]