The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is establishing a new committee with a mandate to develop a risk management guideline for pension plans. The committee has been established in response to the International Monetary Fund’s call to regulators to strengthen their oversight of large pension plans and gain a greater understanding of vulnerabilities in […]
The strength of equities was among the factors pushing the transaction volume of Canada’s group annuities market to a record high in 2021, according to experts. According to a recent report by LifeWorks Inc., the total volume of group annuities sold in Canada reached $7.5 billion in 2021, up 70 per cent from the previous […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is consulting on proposed pension benefits guarantee fund assessment deadlines and calculations guidance, which is designed to assist plan administrators in maintaining compliance with the Pension Benefits Act. The proposed guidance includes: that the deadline for paying the assessment is nine months after the fiscal year end, whether the pension plan […]
A thousand members of the Anglican Church of Canada’s defined contribution pension plan are joining the General Synod pension plan, effective Jan. 1, 2022. The Church-wide Lay employee pension system’s transition into the multi-employer pension plan is part of an expansion strategy to offer more Canadians better financial security in retirement, according to a press […]
The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands is refinancing more than US$800 million worth of bonds following numerous attempts to save a public pension system that officials say faces collapse. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed the bill on Wednesday and says the savings from improved interest rates will help stabilize the pension system for at least 30 years. […]
An eight-year legal effort to reverse a law that transformed New Brunswick’s public sector pension plan away from an indexed defined benefits model is being scrapped. Pension Coalition NB, an association that represents 13,000 public sector retirees in the province, will end its legal efforts to oppose a 2013 bill that transformed N.B.’s public sector pensions […]
At the start of every new year, many employees resolve to improve their fitness — emotionally, financially and/or physically. One pretty easy way that employers can help workers shape up (financially) this year is by offering a workplace tax-free savings account. A knowledge gap still needs to be filled when it comes to TFSAs — […]
The shift to hybrid and remote work models during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is one of several issues impacting pension plan and group benefits administrators in 2022, said Michael Wolpert, a pensions and benefits lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, during a webinar on Jan. 13 hosted by the Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute. Specifically, […]
Manitoba is amending its pension regulatory system in order to strengthen the province’s pension regulatory and solvency framework. The changes, which took effect on Dec. 20, 2021, establish new rules for the funding of private sector defined benefit pension plans, including reducing the solvency deficiency threshold at which special payments must be made from 100 […]
Members of Puerto Rico’s public sector pension plans are facing a benefits freeze and the transformation of their defined benefits plans to defined contribution plans. The decision to cut changed the plans was made as a result of an ongoing financial crisis in the most populous U.S. territory. After it defaulted on bonds in 2014, politicians […]