A story looking at the award-winning strategy behind Canadian Forest Products Ltd.’s ongoing support for employees’ savings and retirement goals took the top spot over the past week on BenefitsCanada.com. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Canfor wins award for educating employees on retirement savings 2. Ontario introducing right-to-disconnect legislation 3. Unvaccinated employees may […]
The end of Canada’s quantitative easing strategy and higher than expected interest rates will be beneficial to Canadian defined benefit pension plans, according to Sebastien Betermier, an associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. On Wednesday, Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, announced plans to end its quantitative easing policy and […]
After being off of Canadians’ radar screens for years, the re-emergence of inflation in recent months is receiving significant attention for many, including pension plan professionals. Some believe the inflationary increases will be transitory because recent price increases are primarily due to short-term disruptions in the Canadian economy caused by the emergence from restrictions due […]
Wages are going up in Canada, with employers projecting an average annual pay increase of 2.5 per cent for next year, according to a new survey by LifeWorks Inc. When excluding organizations that are planning salary freezes, the poll found average salaries are expected to rise 2.7 per cent in 2022. It demonstrates growing confidence […]
With the price of consumer goods, from hot dogs to houses, rising steadily in Canada, some employers are thinking outside the benefits box to help ease the cost of living burden for employees and provide support beyond raising wages. According to Statistics Canada’s latest consumer pricing report, the inflation rate rose 3.7 per cent on […]
Canada’s consumer price index rose by more than half a per cent in July, reaching 3.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis, according to Statistics Canada. Canadians saw the cost of shelter rise faster than any other spending category outside of gasoline, with real estate prices rising 13.4 per cent year-over-year. Inflation hit new home […]
As global equities overcame inflationary fears and continued an upward trend, Canadian pension plan investment returns increased during the second quarter of 2021, with the median plan returning 4.1 per cent, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. “The course of the pandemic has certainly taught us attributes about strength and adaptation, fundamentals we can […]
Canada’s economy will undergo volatility and inflationary acceleration as the nation recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, warns the governor of the Bank of Canada. “The process of reopening the economy won’t be entirely smooth,” said Tiff Macklem in a speech announcing the release of the central bank’s monetary policy report. “For example, we are experiencing supply […]
Almost 16 months since the global coronavirus pandemic was first declared, there’s now yet another thing for institutional investors to worry about — the possibility of inflation. Lately, much has been made of the potential for inflation to emerge given sustained low interest rates and the large deficits that many governments have incurred due to […]
The funded position for an average Canadian defined benefit pension plan improved slightly during May, with a solvency of 108.2 per cent, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. (formerly Morneau Shepell Ltd.) On an accounting basis, it found expenses for the average pension plan had dropped precipitously since the beginning of 2021, at […]