The federal government’s recent budget confirmed its intention to proceed with the new stock option regime previously announced in its November 30, 2020, economic statement — meaning the proposed changes will likely come into force on July 1, as planned. As currently drafted, the changes impose an annual cap of $200,000 on employee stock options […]
Alberta recently joined a growing list of provinces and territories that are amending legislation to introduce paid time off for workers who wish to get the coronavirus vaccine. The legislation, which took effect on April 21, ensures all employees in Alberta are now eligible for up to three hours of paid time off to get […]
The New Brunswick government is expanding the use of biosimilars for certain chronic conditions in its public drug plans. Approximately 3,000 beneficiaries of the province’s drug plans who are living with diseases such as inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and psoriasis will have until Nov. 30 to switch from a biologic to the biosimilar […]
Amid mounting pressure from both the public and private sectors for an action plan that provides affordable childcare for Canadian working parents, on Monday, the federal government unveiled its 2021 budget proposal for a national community-based childcare system. Once partisan policy, many business and union leaders have been aligned on the issue of affordable childcare in […]
While a national pharmacare program is yet to be revealed by the federal government, any future plan should contain provisions for all costly treatments and not just rare diseases, says Jennifer Schmidt, a principal at Mercer Canada. Read: Federal budget highlights national childcare system, extension of pandemic subsidies This week’s federal budget announcement contained only […]
The federal Liberals are facing calls from some of the hardest-hit businesses in the coronavirus pandemic to extend emergency-relief programs beyond June. The government has targeted June 5 for an end to the federal wage and rent subsidies and this week extended applications for a popular loan program to the same time. The idea is […]
The New Democratic Party tabled a motion on March 22 that would immediately turn Revera Inc. — a company that runs more than 500 seniors’ homes in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. — from a for-profit chain wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board into a publicly managed entity. The motion calls on the […]
Pension governance policies have been common for many years, at least since the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published its initial guidelines on pension plan governance in 2004. There are compelling reasons for plan administrators to have in place a formal pension governance structure and written governance policy. A governance policy, which sets out […]
A recent change to British Columbia employment law is making it easier for workers to claim compensation related to a coronavirus infection. Last August, B.C. added the coronavirus to its list of occupational illnesses, which means employees who contract the disease and make a claim don’t have to prove it occurred at their workplace if […]
Health Canada says it’s delaying the implementation of long-awaited changes to Canada’s drug-pricing regime by another six months. A spokesman for the department, says the amendments to patented medicine regulations, which were set to take effect Jan. 1, will now come into force on July 1. Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge says the postponement is intended to give pharmaceutical manufacturers […]