Jim Flynn, a trustee of the Nursing Homes and Related Industries Pension Plan and a former assistant regional director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, remembers a time when the industry’s workers — predominantly women in precarious employment with physically demanding jobs — would retire without a pension plan. “The need was great,” he […]
After years of consultation, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Actuarial Standards Board has finalized changes to key components of how commuted values payable from pension plans are calculated. Among other applications, the commuted-value standard is used to determine how much to pay a terminating plan member who chooses to take their pension payment as a […]
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. […]
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 […]
The Government of Quebec is planning to introduce a bill in the spring of 2020 that would allow employers in the province to implement target-benefit pension plans. The provincial government has already given a mandate to Retraite Québec to develop a regulatory framework for the plans, said Minister of Finance Éric Girard at an event in Quebec City last week. […]
While defined contribution pension plans evolve and defined benefit plans decline, the McGill University pension plan is a true blend of both types — at least for some employees. When Sebastien Betermier, an associate professor of finance at the university’s Desautels Faculty of Management, joined the plan after 2009, a DC arrangement was available for […]
Across Canada, innovative pension plan design options are continuing to emerge for employers considering a move away from traditional single employer, in-house defined benefit or defined contribution plans. During an event last week at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP’s office in Toronto, four pension industry professionals shared their experiences developing new plan design options. Speaking […]
Unionized employees of the Aluminerie de Bécancour Inc. aluminum smelter in Quebec, who’ve been locked out for nearly 18 months, have accepted the company’s latest offer, which includes larger employer contributions to the defined benefit pension plan. At a general membership meeting earlier this week in Trois-Rivières, Que., workers voted by a 79.8 per cent […]
While the Pension Investment Association of Canada is praising Ontario’s 2019 budget proposals, it’s also questioning how the provincial government is planning to implement them. In a letter to provincial Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, the association noted further clarification is needed around the introduction of variable benefits. “While we are pleased that 50 per cent unlocking will be available […]
The Canadian pension industry must go beyond the defined benefit versus defined contribution debate and focus on the model of the future, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report, by actuaries and pension experts Robert Brown and Stephen A. Eadie, proposes a common ground as a starting point for all […]