As lobbying efforts intensify to keep Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ employees in the public service pension, plans are moving ahead to convert a multi-union, multi-employer plan into a target-benefit arrangement. Collective agreements ratified in September 2015 between the United Steelworkers union and CNL state that employees hired before that date would stay in the public plan until September 2018, […]
When it comes to the difficult issue of equity in pension plans, Quebec has been at the forefront recently with its plan to table a bill to eliminate so-called disparity clauses. The province’s plan, which has significant union support, has drawn the attention of Quebec’s pension industry, particularly since it would affect organizations that have […]
The Ontario government has published proposed regulations relating to the funding framework for certain multi-employer pension plans seeking to convert defined benefits to target benefits. Under the proposed regulations, which were first announced in June 2017, eligible multi-employer pension plans wouldn’t be required to fund on a solvency basis. However, they would still be required to provide […]
As part of its 2018 budget, the Ontario government unveiled a proposal to make its changes to the pension benefits guarantee fund apply retroactively to plans with a windup date on or after May 19, 2017. “This amendment is intended to apply to pension benefits provided to former Sears Canada employees,” the government noted in its budget on […]
Manitoba’s Liberal Party is concerned about a number of pension plan design changes put forth by the province’s Conservative government in a public review earlier this month. “We are extremely concerned about the direction the Pallister government is taking on pensions,” Dougald Lamont, the leader of the Manitoba Liberals, said in an email to Benefits Canada. The […]
One year since the federal government unveiled its target-benefit bill, the issue is still attracting divisive opinions from the industry. On one hand, there’s continued opposition from Canada’s labour unions, while many others in the industry believe the bill is heading in the right direction. Unifor, which has taken credit for forcing the government “to […]
One year after the federal government unveiled legislation that would allow federally regulated employers to offer target-benefit pension plans, the proposal has stalled in the House of Commons but it’s apparently still very much alive. “The gist of Bill C-27 is to permit target-benefit plans to operate as a design option alongside defined benefit plans […]
Despite British Columbia’s introduction of provisions for target-benefit pension plans in 2015, a report from the province’s regulator suggests the option has seen a slow uptake. Only 30 pension plans with target-benefit components were registered as of Dec. 31, 2016, according to a report released by the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia on Wednesday. Many of […]
The parent company of Northstar Aerospace Inc. is rejecting as accusation that it has abandoned pensioners who are facing a 24 per cent cut as it moves to close its Milton, Ont. facility in September. “Heligear does not control the pension design or its investments, which are the responsibility of the pension board,” said Greg Harper, […]
Ontario will replace the temporary solvency funding exemption in place for specified multi-employer pension plans with a new target-benefit framework, the government announced Thursday. The interim exemption will extend to August 2018 as the government looks to introduce legislation in the fall and regulations next year. While Ontario’s new framework will permanently exempt collectively bargained […]