Lauren Bailey

2023 Risk Management Conference: Supply, demand outweighing negative impacts of interest rates on real estate sector

Supply and demand are outweighing the negative impacts that interest rates are having on real estate in the short term, according to Vikram Rajagopalan, senior managing director at Trez Capital, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Risk Management Conference. Canada and the U.S. are experiencing population booms, he said, noting the Canadian government’s plan to […]

  • October 18, 2023 October 18, 2023
  • 07:50

Q&A with PepsiCo Canada’s Jaye Calder

The food and beverage company’s manager of pension, benefits and wellness discusses fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment, the importance of flexible benefits and the soothing silence of swimming. Q: What top challenges do you face in your role?  A: In the realm of total rewards, simplification versus personalization is the challenge I experience […]

  • October 13, 2023 October 12, 2023
  • 08:53

How Snap is using flexible working to help ease new parents’ return to work

By March 2021, nearly half a million Canadian women who lost their jobs during the pandemic still hadn’t returned to work by the beginning of that year, according to data from the Royal Bank of Canada. It also found more than 200,000 women had slipped into the ranks of the long-term unemployed, a threefold increase […]

  • September 15, 2023 September 14, 2023
  • 08:58

AI tools helping insurers manage plan costs by weeding out instances of benefits fraud

In 2022, Beneva Inc.’s fraud management department noticed unusual activity under a plan member’s account. The insurer’s artificial intelligence tool, used to analyze millions of benefits claims, flagged that a plan member and the person’s dependant had used up all their maximum coverages within a short period of time. When the plan coverage rolled over […]

  • September 6, 2023 September 6, 2023
  • 09:00

ChatGPT a game-changer for benefits communication but risks remain with full automation: expert

While ChatGPT is helping benefits communications become more efficient, detailed and reliable, the risks may outweigh the rewards when it comes to full automation, says Tom Milne, a principal at Normandin Beaudry. The possibilities for generative artificial intelligence in the benefits space are infinite, he says, noting the algorithms are helping expedite the research and […]

  • August 11, 2023 October 8, 2024
  • 09:00

Feds consulting on draft amendments to pension legislation for transfer of missing members’ benefits

The federal government is launching a consultation on draft amendments to pension legislation pertaining to the transfer of unclaimed benefits for missing plan members. Under the Pensions Benefits Standards Act, plan administrators can transfer pension assets of missing members to a ‘designated entity.’ The draft amendments specify who qualifies as a missing member or beneficiary, as […]

  • June 30, 2023 June 30, 2023
  • 15:00

Younger workers experiencing difficulties cultivating soft skills amid rise in remote working: expert

Although there are many benefits to remote working arrangements, such as a reduced commute and improved work-life balance, younger employees who work remotely aren’t practising their soft skills and a lack of social interaction may negatively impact their professional lives in the long run, says Janet Candido, founder and principal of human resources consultancy Candido […]

  • June 8, 2023 June 8, 2023
  • 09:00

2023 GIC coverage: How OPTrust is building resilient portfolios with help of external managers

When investing in external asset managers, pension funds are really investing in teams of people, according to Brandon Gill New, director and head of multi-strategy investing and digital assets at the OPSEU Pension Trust, speaking during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Global Investment Conference. “It’s not like buying a stock or a bond,” she said, […]

  • June 6, 2023 June 27, 2023
  • 07:43

Ottawa Community Housing Corp.’s 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards win increasing employee awareness of well-being resources

The Ottawa Community Housing Corp. is continuing to see employee engagement in its health and wellness programs following its win in Benefits Canada’s 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards. The organization’s flexible well-being strategy won in the Health/Wellness program category for employers with fewer than 1,000 employees. In 2021, the OCH added more flexibility to its wellness programs by overhauling […]

  • June 1, 2023 June 1, 2023
  • 09:00

Humi using ChatGPT to remove administrative burden from HR, recruitment processes

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are becoming critical in helping human resources leaders balance the necessary administration in recruitment processes, says Andrea Bartlett, vice-president of people at HR consultancy Humi. “What’s exciting to me is AI [is] another tool in the HR professionals’ tool belt that can enable them to offset the administrative tasks to […]

  • May 24, 2023 May 23, 2023
  • 09:00