The Pension Investment Association of Canada is recommending the development of a flexible framework to guide institutional investors’ sustainability reporting, while encouraging innovation and addressing greenwashing. In an open letter to the Competition Bureau, the PIAC said it would oppose any model that imposes disincentives on businesses disclosing strategy and process as it evolves. It argued that […]
The federal government is currently seeking recommendations about its plan to introduce solvency reserve accounts for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans. Under the government’s proposed model, first announced in 2022, these accounts would be optional and constitute a separate account within a DB plan. In a press release, the government said solvency reserve accounts […]
The federal government’s move to introduce legislation extending pension eligibility to frontline public safety and law enforcement workers after 25 years of service could help manage room for new hires and ensure stable plan maturity, says James Fu, partner and national leader of pensions and benefits law at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Hundreds of frontline workers […]
The Competition Bureau is speeding up the development of guidance on the interpretation of new provisions in the Competition Act aimed at greenwashing. The federal watchdog said it has received a large number of requests and that it will develop guidance “on an accelerated basis.” Read: Head to Head: Is it time to change the terminology […]
It would be possible to get around a city if there were no agreed-upon street names, but it would take longer, people would get lost and international travellers might just give the place a pass. The same could be said of investors trying to navigate where to put the many trillions of dollars that are […]
A potential federal mandate for Canadian pension funds to increase their domestic investments could end up harming the very people the pension system is set up to protect, according to a new study by the Global Risk Institute. The paper examined the potential effect of official legislation that pushes for increased investments in domestic markets, […]
The federal government’s pharmacare bill is headed to the Senate after passing third reading in the House of Commons. The bill was the result of careful and lengthy negotiations between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party as a key element of their political pact to prevent an early election. Read: Liberals table bill paving way […]
The federal government’s promise to encourage Canadian institutional investors to invest more domestically is taking shape with two key initiatives found in the 2024 budget. The first involves the creation of a working group led by Stephen Poloz, former Governor of the Bank of Canada, to explore domestic opportunities for Canadian institutional investors in various […]
A renewed call for increased domestic investments by Canadian pension plans isn’t surprising amid an ongoing discussion around the role of investment organizations in supporting the economy, says Malcolm Hamilton, a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. “I think it’s very natural for Canadian businesses . . . [that] focus on the Canadian economy, not […]
The head of a group that represents psychotherapists and counsellors says Ottawa’s plan to lift federal taxes on those services is a good start to addressing barriers to mental-health support, but many people still can’t afford to pay for care that should be publicly funded. Carrie Foster, a couples and family therapist and president of […]