Jennifer Paterson

Defined benefit. Defined contribution. Target benefit. Shared risk. Collective. Multi-employer. Pooled. Canada’s pension and retirement landscape is littered with lingo that can often be confusing for the people who participate in these plans and count on them for their retirement income. As pension plans evolve and the terms describing them expand, does the industry have […]

  • April 14, 2023 April 20, 2023
  • 08:55

Three years ago this month, the world was grappling with the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Even then, with very little information available, people were beginning to turn their attention to the anticipated long-term ramifications of the public health crisis. With everyone experiencing this once-in-a-century moment simultaneously, no one had a response for how […]

  • March 17, 2023 March 17, 2023
  • 09:00

The financial services company’s head of global well-being and benefits strategy talks hybrid working, diverse benefits and time outdoors with her dogs. Q: What top challenges do you face in your role? A: Being fairly new to Nasdaq, I’m learning something new every day about our organization, our people and what we do. Did you […]

  • March 17, 2023 March 17, 2023
  • 08:52

Nearly three years have passed since the coronavirus pandemic became a household name. In some ways, March 11, 2020 — the day the World Health Organization declared the global pandemic — feels like yesterday, but in others, it feels like decades ago. In the days, weeks and months since then, the world has irreversibly changed […]

  • February 10, 2023 February 9, 2023
  • 09:00

The autumn is typically a busy one for the industry, but this year was especially eventful over at Benefits Canada. After a brief hiatus, the long-standing Healthy Outcomes Conference returned in October. This year, it was an in-person event designed for employers to exchange ideas and best practices for achieving improved employee health outcomes. Nearly […]

  • December 16, 2022 December 15, 2022
  • 09:00

Ten years ago, while BlackBerry Ltd. was moving from its head office near the University of Waterloo campus to a complex of three office buildings in the city, it took the opportunity to use feedback from employees to influence how it built its new space. A wellness room and a spirituality room were among the requests […]

  • December 16, 2022 December 15, 2022
  • 08:58

In the midst of the enduring conversation about the changing nature of work and the workplace, some often underappreciated — and potentially underused — benefits have taken centre stage during the coronavirus pandemic. This month, Benefits Canada is exploring two black sheep of the benefits plan: employer-provided travel coverage and vision benefits. In English idiom, […]

  • November 18, 2022 November 17, 2022
  • 09:00

BGIS Global Integrated Solutions Canada was recognized in the Mental health program category for employers with more than 1,000 employees at the 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18 for its integrated approach to supporting employees. In July 2021, the facility management company created its BGIS Balance Committee, comprised of 21 employees from various positions […]

  • November 2, 2022 November 3, 2022
  • 09:00

Telus Communications Inc. was recognized for supporting employees’ holistic well-being as it took home the award for Health/wellness program for an employer with more than 1,000 employees at Benefits Canada‘s 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18. Acknowledging its staff are all somewhere on the well-being continuum and that each person’s situation and goals are […]

  • October 31, 2022 November 2, 2022
  • 09:00

The first issue of Benefits Canada hit the desks of the country’s human resources, benefits, pension and investment professionals in 1977, four years before I was born. That same year, Canada’s inflation rate was eight per cent, very close to July 2022’s annualized inflation rate of 7.6 per cent. A lot has changed in 45 […]

  • October 14, 2022 October 13, 2022
  • 09:00