On the health benefits front, readers were focused on paid leave, legislative changes, medical cannabis and a range of other issues in 2019. Benefits Canada rounds up the industry’s most popular health and benefits stories of the year: 1. Employers urged to prepare for incoming EI parental sharing benefit 2. WSIB policy on medical cannabis takes effect 3. Scotiabank adds extra paid personal days […]
The federal government is putting a pin in its changes to employee stock options, which were supposed to take effect on Jan. 1. In a news release, the federal finance ministry said it’s reviewing feedback from consultations on the proposed changes and will announce its path forward and a new implementation date in its 2020 budget. The proposed changes, […]
The Saskatchewan government is amending its provincial employment act to add eight additional weeks of parental leave. The additional weeks of leave will be available to employees entitled to the province’s new shared parental employment insurance benefit. In a press release, the government said the extra weeks will give employees job protection while they access the […]
With the introduction of Bill 132 in the Ontario legislature last week, pension plan sponsors should be aware of a number of amendments coming to the Pension Benefits Act. If passed, the changes will affect sections of the act that cover electronic communications, missing plan members and the conversion of single-employer pensions into a jointly […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario has appointed members to its stakeholder advisory committee for the pension sector. The committee, which was introduced in July 2019, will provide advice and feedback to the regulator on sector-related matters and will form part of its stakeholder engagement process going forward. The committees members represents a cross-section of views and backgrounds. Read: FSRA […]
Defined contribution plan sponsors are facing challenges that will shape the nature of their legal obligations to employees. Member communication is a key challenge, said Jon Marin, an associate in pension and benefits at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, during Benefits Canada’s 2019 Defined Contribution Investment Forum in Toronto on Sept. 27. “In the vast […]
The vast majority (87 per cent) of Canadian business owners said they haven’t had any cannabis-related incidents in the workplace since recreational cannabis was legalized last October, according to a new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Just eight per cent said they had experienced an incident, while five per cent were unsure. Employers with […]
While the Pension Investment Association of Canada is generally supportive of British Columbia’s proposed solvency funding framework, when it comes to requirements around funding the provision for adverse deviations, the organization is suggesting B.C. takes a page from Ontario and Quebec. With many governments across Canada looking to make defined benefit plans more sustainable, the […]
The Liberal Party announced a number of campaign promises this week, including making maternity and parental benefits tax-free, introducing a 15-week leave for adoptive parents, strengthening the old-age security benefit and increasing the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit. If re-elected, the Liberal government said it will work to establish guaranteed paid family […]
Manitoba’s New Democratic Party and Liberal Party announced a host of worker-friendly campaign promises over the Labour Day weekend, with both parties committing to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The province’s minimum wage, one of the lowest in Canada, is currently $11.35 an hour. It’s set to increase to $11.65 on Oct. 1, […]