The days of working for one employer and contributing to a single pension plan for an entire career are long over. In fact, 28 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Workopolis Inc. in 2014 had already had between five and 10 jobs, and Statistics Canada figures show defined benefit membership is continuing to fall while […]
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has appointed Morneau Shepell Ltd. to take over the continuing administration of Stelco Inc.’s five existing defined benefit pension plans as of Jan. 1, 2018. The five pensions plans will continue without any disruption to retirees’ monthly payments, according to a news release, which noted Morneau Shepell would contact all plan members in the […]
Over the past 10 years, assets in pension plans registered in Alberta have reached $54 billion, an increase of 149 per cent, according to a new report published by the province’s pension regulator. The superintendent of pensions’ 2016 report, published last week, looked at the 753 pension plans under its supervision. The total includes 182 defined benefit plans, 451 […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has laid out its progress on a number of pension responsibilities in its 2016-17 report on plans and priorities, published Friday. One area of progress is pooled retirement pension plans, notes the report. Since OSFI acquired new responsibilities under the PRPP multilateral agreement, which came into effect in June 2016, […]
Pension arrangements for politicians have long been controversial, but at least in the case of members of Parliament, they’ve begun footing an equal share of the bill. In fact, pension contribution rates by federal politicians have more than doubled in the last five years, according to the latest actuarial report on the pension plan for federal […]
Unionized employees at a Quebec-based aluminum smelter are rejecting a proposed change that would move them to a two-tiered pension arrangement from a defined benefit plan. The Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers Local 9700 says employees at the Bécancour, Que., smelter “categorically reject a discriminatory, inferior pension plan for the next generation of workers.” The proposed change would keep defined benefit plans […]
Buoyed by rebounding Canadian equity returns, Canadian defined benefit pension plans posted returns of 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, marking the sixth straight quarter of growth, according to RBC Investor & Treasury Services. Canadian equities returned 3.8 per cent in the quarter, compared with minus 1.9 per cent in the second quarter […]
The New Democratic Party tabled a private member’s bill Monday to amend Canada’s insolvency laws so they protect pension plans and post-retirement benefits when a company is in financial trouble. The bill, tabled by the party’s pensions critic Scott Duvall, follows the NDP’s End Pension Theft campaign, which was launched in September. The campaign is aimed at fixing […]
The median solvency ratio for Canadian defined benefit plans rose to 100.7 per cent in October as equity markets continued to rally, according to Aon Hewitt’s monthly median solvency ratio survey. The figure is 1.4 percentage points higher than the beginning of October and the highest level since the survey recorded 102 per cent in 2002. Of surveyed plans, […]
Amid controversy over the cost of its two defined benefit plans for members of city council, a Calgary city councillor has voluntarily decided not to participate in them. “After consulting with my partner and family, I have declined the pension and transition allowance offered to me as a city councillor,” Coun. Jeromy Farkas wrote on […]