Investment fees led the agenda at the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators’ annual meeting last week. This year, the forum engaged externally on investment fees, a topic of high importance to both defined contribution pension plan members — particularly those invested in mutual funds — and policy holders of segregated funds. It sought the views […]
A number of Canadian institutional investors, including the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, are among 457 signatories of a statement calling on governments around the globe to take accelerated action to combat the climate […]
Canada’s bankruptcy laws should be changed to avoid future financial hardship for members of other underfunded pension plans, said a court-appointed representative for Sears Canada retirees. Kenneth Eady, a former Sears Canada management employee who now represents 17,000 other pensioners, told MPs on Tuesday that he doesn’t believe it’s fair that Canada’s two bankruptcy laws give banks more protection […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is urging parliamentarians to vote down the final version of a new bankruptcy and insolvency bill. If passed, Bill C-253, also titled the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (pension plans and group insurance plans), would force super priority on Canadian pension plan members in […]
Canada’s pension plan sponsors have a fiduciary responsibility to consider climate change in their financial decisions, according to Randy Bauslaugh, counsel for pensions and benefits and executive compensation at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, during a webinar hosted by the Canada Climate Law Initiative and the Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute. “The failure of plan administrators and […]
The federal government is extending its relief to registered pension plans and deferred salary leave plans by one year to help employers manage and maintain benefits for their employees through the coronavirus pandemic. The draft regulations, initially released on July 2, 2020, are aimed at ensure pension plan sponsors and their beneficiaries have the flexibility they […]
While solvency funding relief helped Canada’s pension funds withstand the turbulence of 2020, a long-term vision with an eye to a more robust funding framework would offer better support, according to pensions experts. Responding to the crisis, the federal government launched a consultation last fall on measures to alleviate pension solvency funding requirements for defined […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling for increased clarity regarding Ontario’s rules for the valuation and division of pension payments following a marriage breakdown. In response to a consultation by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, the ACPM recommended the draft guidance document include an example of an exception to the rule […]
The Canadian Federation of Pensioners is calling for amendments to federal insolvency laws to protect members of defined benefit pensions if the employer is insolvent. The federation, which represents 23 retiree groups with a total of about 300,000 members, renewed its call for legislative changes after the federal budget failed to mention the issue on […]
In its 2021 budget on Wednesday, the Ontario government said it’s requiring pension plan administrators to calculate and report their plan’s claim exposure to the pension benefits guarantee fund, to support the protection of benefits into the future. A review of the fund, discussed in the province’s 2020 budget, found there was a need for […]