Sears Canada’s plan to pay out millions in bonuses to keep executives and key staff on board while not paying severance to laid-off workers is being met with shock and disbelief. “It definitely should not go to them,” said Marinella Gonzalez, who worked as a planner at the retailer’s head office for 18 years before […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is asking industry stakeholders to weigh in on its proposed changes to funding and asset allocation rules for multi-jurisdictional pension plans. Read: Five provinces enter into multi-jurisdictional pension agreement CAPSA’s consultation paper aims to build an agreement that would clarify how each government’s pension legislation applies to the […]
Alternative investments have been the name of the game for many of the leaders on Benefit Canada‘s list of the fastest-growing pension funds for 2016. Both the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, ranked third on the list of fastest-growing plans at 10.65 per cent growth, and Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board, ranked fourth at 10.6 per […]
The vast majority (86 per cent) of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System’s pensioners are happy they retired when they did, according to a new survey by the Municipal Retirees Organization Ontario. But almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents said they’d advise future retirees to think more about how to handle their declining health […]
Sears Canada Inc. has reversed course and will continue to make special payments to its defined benefit pension plan and provide post-employment benefits plans until Sept. 30, 2017. Have your say: Does the Sears Canada case signal the need for changes to better protect employees? The agreement, which the company reached with employees and retirees […]
U.S. Steel Canada Inc. has successfully restructured and has exited protection under the Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act with Bedrock Industries Group LLC as its new owner. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario filed its regulation relating to the U.S. Steel Canada pension plans on June 30, confirming the agreement between the company’s new owner and […]
There’s little doubt that working Canadians want a secure source of retirement income. The challenge for the pension industry is how to deliver the desired retirement income in a sustainable manner. In April 2017, the Canadian Public Pension Leadership Council published the results of a survey that provided key takeaways that will be useful to governments, policy-makers […]
British Columbia’s pension regulator is cracking down on vague termination expense assumptions over fears unrealistic calculations have caused some plans to overstate their solvency ratios. “We’re becoming a little more rigorous in our expectations,” says Michael Peters, the acting superintendent of pensions at the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia in Vancouver. Guidance issued […]
General Mills Inc. will close its defined benefit pension plans to all American employees at the end of 2027, according to the company’s annual report. At the end of May 2017, the pension plans had US$5.925 billion in assets and US$6.459 billion in liabilities, notes the report. “The company will freeze the pay and service […]
A retired lieutenant in the naval reserve has launched a $100-million lawsuit against the Canadian Armed Forces for “chronic, excessive and unreasonable” delay in paying discharged members their pension benefits. Donald Jost, 50, has commenced a proposed class proceeding on behalf of all members of the regular and reserve Canadian forces who were discharged as […]