In October 2017, De Beers Canada senior management flew to the company’s remote Victor diamond mine near Attawapiskat, Ont., to tell its employees some tough but not unexpected news: the mine was slated to close in the first quarter of 2019. When the fly-in, fly-out operation opened in 2008, the company forecasted it would last […]
Hub International Ltd. is acquiring Mississauga, Ont.-based employee benefits consulting firm GMS Insurance Inc. Last year, the global insurance brokerage acquired GMS’s Kitchener, Ont. operations. The company said owning both entities would allow it to enhance its services to southwestern Ontario and greater Toronto area clients. Read: Hub International acquiring assets of Clarity Benefits Group […]
Benefits consultancy the Leslie Group Ltd. is partnering with health-care technology company Acorn Biolabs Inc. to offer onsite live cell collection to employees. Initially, the consultancy offered the service to its own employees before expanding it to its plan sponsor clients. Cell collection is important for stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicines, noted a press release. […]
As the labour dispute between Western Forest Products Inc. and United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 heads into its third month, tensions are running high over health benefits. Employees who are members of the Steelworkers chapter have been on strike since July 1, 2019. The proposed collective agreement in question includes concessions on a number of issues, […]
Federal and provincial policy-makers should pay close attention to effective tax rates when considering changes to the tax-and-transfer system, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. Geared-to-income fiscal benefits programs provide valuable financial assistance to families with children, noted the report, but these benefits often come with high marginal effective tax and participation […]
The federal Conservative Party is promising to make employment insurance maternity and parental benefits tax-free. The party is proposing a 15 per cent tax credit for any income earned under the two EI programs. “Parents should be able to put their energy toward those critical first few months, and not have to worry so much […]
When employees at Accenture begin a gender transition, they have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits. In 2011, the global consulting firm became one of the first companies in Canada to cover costs related to transitioning. Zoya Zayler, inclusion and diversity lead for Canada, says the organization worked with its benefits provider to design a fulsome and customizable […]
In 2016, KPMG Canada’s benefits program was facing a perfect storm: the company was starting to see a change in its workforce’s needs; employees didn’t value some of its offerings, found the program difficult to understand and felt the pay and total rewards package weren’t competitive; and the organization’s new management team didn’t believe the […]
Compared to the preceding years, 2019 appears to be the year of steady when it comes to progress on hot topics that resonated in the industry in 2017 and 2018. While no single topic has disappeared from the slate, neither have any new ones risen to become topics of urgency among consultants. “Last year, we […]
When an employee has a health issue requiring expensive treatment, the associated high-cost claims can be significant for their benefits plan sponsor. But it’s impossible to predict when a large claim will arise, so stop-loss insurance, which takes the claim off the employer’s shoulders, is one option to help protect against these unexpected costs. As […]