Following similar moves in jurisdictions across Canada, British Columbia’s proposed changes to its defined benefit pension solvency funding requirements will take effect on Dec. 31. Under the changes, DB plan sponsors in the province will be permitted to fund to a solvency ratio of 85 per cent instead of the previous requirement of 100 per cent. […]
About a year ago, Benefits Canada introduced a few new columns and features, including our Head to Head, where every month we choose a hot industry question and open up a two-person debate. I’m often tempted to join in the discussion, but ultimately fall on the side of restraint. This month, though, I can’t resist […]
Pension plan stakeholders will see a continued evolution of both short- and long-term reform, with some significant developments expected in 2020. “Hopefully, Ontario will finalize the rules for its target benefit regime — perhaps we’ll see the introduction of single employer target-benefit rules — and there should be some action on variable benefits because the […]
A new report by the C.D. Howe Institute is recommending the federal government amend legislation to allow Canadians to buy life annuities within a tax-free savings account. It also suggested the government modifies the draft legislation creating advanced deferred life annuities and variable payment life annuities to make them both available within a TFSA. “More than 45,000 employers […]
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is calling for a merger of the management services for the province’s public-sector pensions. Pallister says he’s not suggesting the funds themselves merge — only that they be managed as a group. A much larger pool of funds would be subject to lower management fees, he says, which could save roughly $200 million […]
Two-thirds (65 per cent) of Canadian millennials said they worry if they buy a home and delay their savings, they won’t have enough for retirement, according to a new survey by KPMG. However, among millennial survey respondents who do own a home, 42 per cent said they’re putting their retirement savings on hold to pay […]
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is urging governments around the world to urgently reform their pension systems to ensure employees in temporary or part-time employment can contribute enough during their working years to receive adequate retirement income. A new report said non-standard employment, including self-employment, temporary or part-time work accounts for more than a third of employment across […]
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the minimum retirement age will remain 62, but employees will have to work until 64 to receive a full pension. In a sweeping speech on Dec. 11, he said the implementation of the pension changes will be delayed. The new pension system will only apply to people born after […]
An important case around an employer’s ability to change its practice in granting consent benefits under a pension plan is winding its way through the courts. The case, Hall et al v Canadian National Railway, involves a dispute by a group of former employees of the Canadian National Railway Co. who resigned, prior to age 55, between the years […]
The Manitoba government has proposed changes to the provincial Pension Benefits Act that will allow the creation of in-plan solvency reserve accounts for defined benefit pension plans registered in the province. The amendments would permit plan sponsors to withdraw funds from the reserve account when the plan is in surplus and would prohibit them from […]