The union representing roughly 435 employees at Ivaco Rolling Mills in eastern Ontario has ratified two five-year collective agreements that include pension and benefits gains. The agreements include pension improvements to the defined contribution pension plan, with pension contributions beginning earlier upon completion of probation and employer matches of up to four per cent for […]
In response to proposed legislation that would introduce the option of variable life benefits in Ontario, the Association of Canadian Pension Management is recommending against regulating plan sponsors to disclose an expected rate of return on contributions made to a variable life benefits fund. In an open letter to the provincial Ministry of Finance, the […]
Implementation of harmonized minimum funding regulations for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans tops the Pension Investment Association of Canada’s list of advocacy priorities in 2025. Currently, DB plan sponsors are operating amid a patchwork of minimum funding regulations across the country, as most provinces have introduced requirements of their own. “A unified ‘going-concern plus’ regime […]
Promoting employee financial awareness and retirement readiness amid the rising cost of living is a priority for the Canadian Public Pension Leadership Council in 2025, says Cheldon Angus, co-chair of the CPPLC and chief executive officer of the Winnipeg Civic Employees’ Benefits Program. “More and more these days, employers are prioritizing their financial literacy education for […]
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation is fuelling uncertainty among Canadians regarding the direction of the country, financial markets have been surprisingly resilient in reaction to the news, says Francis Gingras Roy, a senior financial advisor at Manulife Wealth Inc. He notes when Trudeau announced his resignation last Monday, the TSX ended the day pretty flat. […]
With the start of a new year, there are several developments and trends that will likely impact Canadian pension plan sponsors in 2025. Implementation of regulatory guidelines In September 2024, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published a new guideline for risk management for plan administrators and an update to their guideline for capital […]
According to Statistics Canada, 80 per cent of Canadian public sector workers benefit from a respectable, life-long pension. However, for many private sector employees the quality of the pension plan available to them leaves much to be desired. The typical private sector pension is a defined contribution plan, which means employees bear the risk of […]
The keynote session at Benefits Canada’s 2024 Defined Contribution Investment Forum warned that the failure to plan for the ‘boomer bulge’ is affecting private and public pension policy. The presentation from Paul Kershaw, a policy professor at the University of British Columbia and founder of not-for-profit organization Generation Squeeze, got me thinking: if the influx […]
Amendments to the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act must go beyond reporting transparency and clarify how additional disclosure requirements help monitor the health of Canadian pension plans, said the Pension Investment Association of Canada. In an open letter to Finance Canada, the PIAC said if current data collection processes for federally regulated plans aren’t achieving […]
While global pension plan sponsors’ assets grew by 10 per cent to reach US$63.1 trillion in 2023, this value is still five per cent lower than in 2021, according to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It found this growth was largely attributed to gains in equity markets last year […]