With Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans in their best financial shape since 2009, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is advising plan sponsors and administrators to better prepare for the future. “They need a good sense of investment policies as well as how the plan itself may be affected [by different scenarios],” says Lester […]
The Toronto-Dominion Bank is enhancing its benefits offerings in 2022 with expanded family planning coverage. The bank’s benefits program is now covering fertility and reproductive treatments and offering support for surrogacy or donor costs and adoption costs, with a $20,000 lifetime maximum for each benefit, says Melanie Burns, TD’s senior vice-president of human resources and talent […]
The shift to hybrid and remote work models during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is one of several issues impacting pension plan and group benefits administrators in 2022, said Michael Wolpert, a pensions and benefits lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, during a webinar on Jan. 13 hosted by the Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute. Specifically, […]
A high-profile fraud case and a devastating oil spill directly inspired Maria Elena Drew to focus on environmental, social and governance factors in her investment career. During her session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2021 Investment Innovation Conference, the director of research in responsible investing at T. Rowe Price said she began her ESG journey […]
Commuting can be a pain point for some employees returning to the office, so a Victoria, B.C.-based software company is considering several ways to incentivize employees to come into the workplace. Redbrick is rolling out a $500 incentive that employees can use towards bicycles and cycling gear to encourage physical wellness and to offset the cost […]
A Vancouver-based software company is using education benefits and a flexible work schedule to attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive labour market. Kathy Enros, vice-president of people for Klue, says the company is enhancing the education component of its benefits program, which is currently the most-requested benefit among employees. While the education programs […]
Hootsuite Inc. is emphasizing wellness, inclusion and collaboration with its redesigned Vancouver office, as employees begin their return to the workplace. In addition to features such as work pods for teams and individuals, the social media marketing and management company has introduced amenities like wellness rooms for nursing mothers or prayer, gender-inclusive washrooms, a fully-accessible […]
In the early days of 2020, no one could have foreseen the social and economic havoc the coronavirus pandemic would wreak on the world. Nearly two years later, as markets and economies continue to recover, Canadian pension plan sponsors are looking to their money managers to help light the way to a brighter financial future. […]
As much as institutional investors fear stock market bubbles, they have an important role to play. The flooding of capital into new technologies and innovations leading up to a bubble’s bursting fuels innovation — an area that most corporations do not invest enough in, said Randall Morck, a finance professor at the University of Alberta, […]
A Toronto-based seafood market is using its benefits and compensation offerings to engage employees in an industry hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. David Owen, owner of De La Mer, recently introduced a profit-sharing plan and health benefits for employees of his four stores. While the pandemic delayed the launch of these programs by […]