Jennifer Paterson

Court rejects pension claim against U.S. company’s Canadian subsidiary

The British Columbia Supreme Court has rejected an American multi-employer pension plan’s claim for $1.25 billion against a U.S. company’s Canadian subsidiary. The case revolved around the claim that a Canadian subsidiary was on the hook for the unfulfilled pension withdrawal liabilities of one of its parent company’s U.S. subsidiaries. The parent company, Walter Group, includes U.S., […]

  • May 12, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 10:10

Cost savings top driver for benefits technology use: report

The top drivers for using benefits technology include reducing costs (36 per cent), better control or management of benefits data (35 per cent), improving benefits communications (29 per cent) and providing a better experience for employees (27 per cent), according to new research by the business research organization LIMRA. “. . . One of the biggest […]

  • May 11, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:14

Apps, peer recognition among the trends in employee recognition programs

While the days of handing out gold watches and lapel pins to recognize an employee’s years of service are largely outdated, recognition programs in Canadian workplaces still revolve primarily around formal milestones, rather than informal, day-to-day appreciation from managers and colleagues. But as technology and data play a growing role in many human resources and […]

  • May 9, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 08:52

Court overturns $176K in retirement severance awarded to B.C. mining employee

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that gave a copper mine employee an 18-month severance package upon retirement. At trial last year, the B.C. Supreme Court had awarded Albert Aubrey, an employee at mining company Teck Highland Valley Copper Partnership in Logan Lake, B.C., $176,250 in damages for a breach of an employment contract. […]

  • April 17, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 10:50

B.C. pharmacare program to streamline approvals for high-cost drugs

British Columbia PharmaCare has partnered with Pacific Blue Cross to introduce new claims technology that aims to improve the process for plan members seeking approvals for coverage of higher-cost drugs only partially covered by the provincial health-care system. To be eligible for drugs that require special authority under the province’s public drug program, plan members […]

  • March 31, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:15

CPP changes an opportunity to look at pension plan redesign

Now is the time for employers to start looking at the Canada Pension Plan enhancements and their potential affects on workplace pension plans, said lawyer Stephanie Kalinowski during an event in Toronto on Wednesday. “Especially for [defined contribution] plans, in particular, it’s really an opportunity to step back and look at your overall plan design.” […]

  • March 30, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:04

New CFO network to focus on financial sustainability

The Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability project has launched a Canadian chapter of its chief financial officer network that will focus on the role the finance community plays in integrating environmental and social issues into financial decision-making. Founding members of the Canadian chapter, which is the first outside Europe, include chief financial officers from […]

  • March 29, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:00

Budget boosts parental leave to 18 months, introduces caregiving benefit

The federal government is moving ahead with extending employment insurance parental benefits to 18 months and is creating a new 15-week benefit for caregivers. According to Wednesday’s budget announcement, the changes to parental benefits would allow parents to choose to receive employment insurance parental benefits over an extended period of up to 18 months at a lower benefit […]

  • March 23, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 11:03

How to deal with DC pensions in an M&A transaction

In the course of a merger or acquisition, there are a number of balls to juggle, not the least of which are the changes to employees’ benefits packages. Last month, Benefits Canada looked at one of the more complicated scenarios: how to deal with defined benefit pension plans in the wake of a merger or […]

  • March 21, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 08:57

Britain cracks down on DC fees

When Britain’s former economic watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, published a report in 2013 about the country’s workplace defined contribution pension market, it was the latest call in the country’s ongoing conversation about pension governance and delivering value for money to plan members. The report estimated more than 186,000 pension plans in the country […]

  • March 21, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 08:53