Employers can’t have a one size fits all approach for treating employees with a disability, said Connie Reeve, a partner with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. Speaking at a seminar in Toronto yesterday, she offered some practical tips for employers who have employees with a disability (which includes both physical and mental impairment): • Ask […]
Spending on healthcare is expected to reach $148 billion in 2006—an increase of $8 billion, or 5.8%, over last year—according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s report, National Health Expenditure Trends, 1975-2006. The increase is slightly lower than the estimated annual growth rate of 6.4% in 2005 and lower than the average yearly rate […]
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan(OTPP)is teaming up with Johannesburg-based Ethos Ltd. to buy Consol Ltd. of South Africa for US$850 million. Consol is Africa’s biggest glassmaker and supplies bottles to SABMiller, one of the world’s leading brewers. The purchase is the latest in a string of deals for the pension plan. Last month, OTPP announced it […]
Delta Air Lines has reached an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation(PBGC)that will resolve all issues in connection with the termination of the Delta Pilots Retirement Plan. In settlement of its claims against Delta and its affiliates, the PBGC will be allowed a pre-petition unsecured claim against Delta of US$2.2 billion. Also, the debtors’ […]
Legg Mason Canada is shutting down its institutional investment management business, according to a newspaper report. It says equity clients can switch to Batterymarch Financial Management of Boston and fixed-income clients can use Western Asset Management of Los Angeles, both of which are Legg Mason subsidiaries. Legg Mason Canada had total pension assets of $9.7 […]
Great-West Lifeco’s American subsidiary is buying U.S. Bank’s 401(k)defined contribution business for an undisclosed amount. The business has about 195,000 participants and more than US$9 billion in retirement plan assets. “This acquisition moves us significantly closer to our goal of becoming one of the top retirement plan providers in the United States,” says Great-West’s president […]
Pension funds looking to invest in real estate are no longer investing just in Canada, but are making investments abroad. For the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System(OMERS), it decided that its real estate investment firm—Oxford Properties—was a global business. “We looked at the nature of our assets and we had too much Toronto office [properties] […]
About 38,000 of Ford’s UAW-represented hourly workers have accepted voluntary buyout packages this year. That includes approximately 30,000 buyout offers preliminarily accepted during the recent system-wide open enrollment period that concluded this week. Ford began the year with about 83,000 UAW-represented employees. “While I know that in many cases decisions to leave the company were […]
Ivanhoe Cambridge, the principal real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has made a $249.3-million investment in Germany. It has purchased 92.5% of the Dusseldorf Arcaden shopping centre, which is set to be completed in 2008. Roughly 100 businesses, service companies, cafes, restaurants and fashion retailers, along with a large […]
The Canadian Psychiatric Association(CPA)and Great-West Life have formed the Great-West Life Mental Health in the Workplace Clinical Innovation Fund. It will be created through a $175,000 contribution from Great-West to the Foundation of the CPA. Mental health issues in the workplace are increasing disability claims and impacting overall workplace wellness. The projects funded through this […]