Stikeman Elliott LLP is appointing Mark Firman as counsel in its tax and pensions and benefits groups in Montreal. In his career, Firman has advised on all aspects of pension and executive compensation law, including pension fund investments, plan governance and administration issues, stock option and other equity-based incentive plans and corporate governance relating to […]
In January 2020, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries released final changes to the actuarial standards of practice for calculating commuted values, with the changes scheduled to come into effect on Dec. 1, 2020. The changes will affect the lump-sum amounts paid from many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in situations such as: the termination of employment of […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is changing its process for consenting to asset transfers under the Pension Benefits Act, citing the province’s current state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. Effective immediately, the new process will allow the FSRA to provide consent through a letter after a 10-day notice period, during which […]
The McGill University pension plan is appointing Sun Life Financial to provide administration services in collaboration with consultancy Normandin Beaudry. This is the second of the university’s plans to join Sun Life following its service employees union plan in 1996. In addition, with about 10,000 members, the plan is the largest in the province for which the insurer provides […]
Last week’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plan discriminated against job-sharing women should be a wake-up call to pension administrators that changes in plan design to accommodate equality rights are long overdue. “The negative pension consequences of job-sharing perpetuate a long-standing source of disadvantage to women: gender biases […]
Canada’s retirement income system scored ninth place for the second year in a row, securing a “B” rating in spite of uncertainty in the markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The annual global pension index by Mercer and the CFA Institute noted the pandemic’s effects on the global pension fund markets aren’t only widespread […]
The Co-operative Superannuation Society Pension Plan’s digital-first communications plan netted it the pension plan communications award at Benefits Canada‘s 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 16. The CSS pension plan’s communications strategy was influenced by the technology and fintech industries and meeting its members where they are — online. “We’re a defined contribution pension plan, so it’s […]
With federal and provincial regulators introducing relief measures this year to support pension plans amid the financial upheaval resulting from the coronavirus crisis, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario saw a lot of action from plan sponsors registered in the province. “In terms of whether plans are taking advantage of the relief — they are in […]
Two employers from British Columbia’s not-for-profit sector are the latest to join the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan’s DBplus. Effective Oct. 1, 53 full-time and six part-time staff at the Vancouver Foundation and four full-time and two part-time employees at the British Columbia Unclaimed Property Society became members of the defined benefit […]
Certain politicians have suggested Alberta withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and go it alone. Would the province benefit from a solitary system or is the idea short-sighted? Niels Veldhuis, economist and president of the Fraser Institute In June, Alberta’s Fair Deal panel recommended the development of a comprehensive plan to withdraw the province from […]