The median solvency ratio for Canadian defined benefit plans rose to 100.7 per cent in October as equity markets continued to rally, according to Aon Hewitt’s monthly median solvency ratio survey. The figure is 1.4 percentage points higher than the beginning of October and the highest level since the survey recorded 102 per cent in 2002. Of surveyed plans, […]
Representative counsel for Sears Canada Inc.’s retirees has sent a letter to the monitor, FTI Consulting Inc., and all parties involved in the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings asserting their first priority claim against the company’s estate on behalf of pension members. In the letter sent recently, Andrew Hatnay, a partner at Koskie Minsky LLP, wrote that […]
Solvency ratios for defined benefit pension plans regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario have stayed relatively stable, according to the organization’s quarterly report. The median solvency ratio was 91 per cent as of Sept. 30, 2017, up from 89 per cent on June 30 and down from 93 per cent on March 31. […]
CARP is the latest organization to call for legislative reforms to better protect pensioners working for private sector companies that file for insolvency. CARP, formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, held discussions on the issue with members of Parliament, senators and other government staff on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. The organization is asking the federal government […]
The Ontario Superintendent of Financial Services has selected Morneau Shepell Ltd. to take over the administration of Sears Canada Inc.’s pension plan. Following the announcement earlier this month that the company will seek a liquidation order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the superintendent has determined a plan windup is inevitable, according to a […]
Nova Scotia’s auditor general is sounding the alarm about the financial status of the province’s teachers’ pension plan, calling for action to address its “serious financial condition.” In a report released Wednesday, Michael Pickup said the plan, currently funded at almost 78 per cent, is facing significant difficulties. “It is troubling that while there is a […]
The median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans reached 99.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, bolstered by two interest rate increases and rising bond yields, according to Aon’s latest quarterly median solvency ratio survey. This is an increase on the 94.8 per cent median solvency ratio reported by Aon for […]
Members of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa pension will be voting this fall on whether to join the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan. The organization, which has been in place since July 1972, is considering the merger as a way to mitigate the defined benefit plan’s impact on its operating budget, says […]
The Ontario Superior Court has postponed a motion by Sears Canada Inc. retirees and employees to wind up the company’s defined benefit pension plan. On Tuesday, Justice Glenn Hainey issued an order noting the court wouldn’t hear the motion before Nov. 30, 2017 but suggesting it would otherwise “proceed as expeditiously as possible.” In the meantime, he […]
Nova Scotia is following in the footsteps of a number of other provinces by looking into its funding framework for defined benefit pension plans. Like most jurisdictions in Canada, Nova Scotia requires defined benefit plans to be valued and funded on both a going-concern and a solvency basis. Under the review, the province is considering […]