The headlines this summer emphasized the negative: Almost half of employers aren’t ready for the legalization of recreational marijuana when it takes effect next year. That’s hardly a surprise. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that, according to a survey conducted by the Human Resources Professionals Association, 54 per cent of the members who […]
Among those with the most to worry about when a company as big as Sears Canada Inc. enters restructuring proceedings are the members of the pension plan. In the case of Sears employees, the company has a significant shortfall in its defined benefit pension plan despite closing it to new entrants in 2008. According to […]
“Indexing has its place, but an open-ended commitment at taxpayers’ expense is totally out of the question, particularly when the private sector cannot afford to include such open-ended liabilities as a business expense.” That was the conclusion of a Benefits Canada story entitled “The new elite: those with indexed pensions.” Read: Chronicling the Canadian pension […]
It seems the current pension crisis — whether it be over reform of the Canada Pension Plan or high levels of underfunding among private plans — is always the most significant one yet. But as past issues of Benefits Canada going all the way back to the first one in 1977 show, alarm about the […]
While employees with poor sleep habits are more likely to see an impact on their work, treatment can make a significant difference to their quality of life, a pilot project involving staff at Desjardins Insurance has found. At an event in Toronto on Thursday, the company revealed the results of a pilot project involving 1,800 […]
WINNIPEG — As pension plan sponsors consider the best approach to governance, it’s important to look beyond the basic legal requirements, participants at the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute’s national forum heard on Wednesday. Plan sponsors should consider going beyond the basic issues to more fully determine what they’re aiming to achieve, Eckler Ltd. principal Zaheed […]
WINNIPEG — While traditional insurance companies and some of the disruptors coming on the scene would presumably be fierce competitors, there’s lots of room for them to work together, participants at the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute’s national forum heard. “The insurance companies are late bloomers when it comes to the digital world,” said Lisa […]
Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans will have to fund themselves on a solvency basis only if their funded status falls below 85 per cent, the government announced this morning. That was one of the key elements of the provincial government’s long-awaited reforms to pension funding requirements. The highlights of the changes include: Requiring funding on an […]
While getting up to three months off after working somewhere for 10 years sounds like a great deal, the idea seems unlikely to become a common feature in Canadian workplaces, as it is in Australia. As Benefits Canada’s Sara Tatelman reports in this month’s issue, Australia’s generous system of additional paid time off for long-term […]
Diversified growth, multi-asset, multi-strategy — these are some of the terms used to describe investment options for pension plans seeking the sweet spot of equity-like returns with lower volatility by investing across a broader range of asset classes. It’s not a new approach, as diversified growth funds have been spreading from their roots in Britain […]