Canadian defined benefit pension plans made gains in their solvency position in the third quarter of 2017, according to the Mercer Pension Health Index. The index, which shows the solvency ratio of a hypothetical Canadian plan, rose to 106 per cent, compared with 102 per cent at the start of the year. Of Mercer’s plan […]
Retirement savings products once again led the way in the growth of the life and health insurance industry, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. Of the $631 billion in employer-sponsored pension plans, the industry managed $142 billion in 2016, up from $131 billion in 2015. And life insurers paid […]
Nortel Networks Corp., Stelco Inc., Sears Canada Inc. These are just a few of the many bankruptcy or restructuring cases that have catapulted the financial state of company pension plans into the spotlight. But while the attention generally focuses on protecting the company’s employees and retirees, it’s important to remember that there are a number […]
A Quebec Superior Court decision refusing to give priority to pension contribution deficiencies in the context of a mining company’s restructuring has ramped up the uncertainty around the windup of Sears Canada Inc.’s defined benefit plan. Earlier this month, Justice Stephen Hamilton ruled that the deemed trust that gives priority to pension claims under Newfoundland […]
Brink’s Canada Ltd. employees are pushing back again the company’s proposal to move them from a defined benefit pension into a defined contribution plan. The pension change is one of the central issues prompting members of Unifor to vote overwhelmingly to strike. In Ontario, 800 union members have voted 98 per cent in favour of […]
The federal New Democratic Party is proposing changes to federal bankruptcy laws to protect employees and retirees when their employer files for bankruptcy. Its End Pension Theft campaign focuses on ensuring workers’ pensions and health benefits have the same consideration as secured creditors. “Pensions earned by workers are deferred wages, plain and simple. Diverting, withholding or […]
Members of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa pension will be voting this fall on whether to join the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan. The organization, which has been in place since July 1972, is considering the merger as a way to mitigate the defined benefit plan’s impact on its operating budget, says […]
The Ontario Superior Court has postponed a motion by Sears Canada Inc. retirees and employees to wind up the company’s defined benefit pension plan. On Tuesday, Justice Glenn Hainey issued an order noting the court wouldn’t hear the motion before Nov. 30, 2017 but suggesting it would otherwise “proceed as expeditiously as possible.” In the meantime, he […]
Nova Scotia is following in the footsteps of a number of other provinces by looking into its funding framework for defined benefit pension plans. Like most jurisdictions in Canada, Nova Scotia requires defined benefit plans to be valued and funded on both a going-concern and a solvency basis. Under the review, the province is considering […]
The median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined to 96.5 per cent in August, amid rising global political instability and subdued equity market returns, according to Aon Hewitt. Its monthly survey, which tracks the performance of the defined benefit plans it administers and calculates their solvency ratios by measuring assets over liabilities, […]