Improvements in cancer treatments are driving patients out of hospital beds and back into their own homes. “Cancer is now a treatable, chronic disease. With these new therapies, we’re seeing a paradigm shift and a difference in the way patients are being treated,” Sandra Salama Anderson, vice-president of consulting and business development at Innomar Strategies […]
Developing new drugs is only half of the job for those treating lung cancer, according to a medical oncologist. Most people know that the biology of cancer is extremely complex. What fewer know, Dr. Paul Wheatley-Price told audience members at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Employers Cancer Care Summit on Feb. 21, is that “the machinery of […]
Employers should reach out early and often to employees facing a cancer crisis, according to a man with first-hand experience. Asaph Benun told attendees at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Employers Cancer Care Summit in February his life took a major turn five years ago following his six-month-old son’s diagnosis with a rare blood cancer that doctors […]
The old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure works just as well when it comes to cancer care as it does for any other medical ailment, if you ask Dr. Jeffrey Rothenstein. The medical oncologist at the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre told the audience at Benefits Canada’s […]
Like most 19-year-olds, Gary Howe didn’t pay a great deal of attention to his pension entitlements when he signed up with Stelco Inc. as an apprentice industrial mechanic at its landmark plant in Hamilton, Ont. “At that age, I was more interested in my wages and how much cash I would have in my pocket,” […]
For such a small number, the discount rate used by a pension plan can have a very significant impact on its funded status. Actuaries use the rate to determine the present value of the plan’s future liabilities in order to check whether the fund has enough assets to meet its obligations as they arise. The […]
Canada’s Income Tax Act is generally not a place people turn to for easy answers, so figuring out whether benefits provided to employees are taxable or not can prove a challenge. “There are a lot of different rules and exceptions,” says Kevin Stienstra, a senior tax manager at Grant Thornton LLP in Beamsville, Ont. “That […]
Canada’s Income Tax Act is generally not a place people turn to for easy answers, so figuring out whether benefits provided to employees are taxable or not can prove a challenge. Here’s a breakdown of the CRA’s take on some of the more common benefits offered by employers: Automobile allowances Payments made to employees who […]
Throughout 2012, Ted Menzies, then the federal minister of state for finance tasked with the development of pooled registered pension plans, consistently proclaimed they were “the right solution at the right time” to get Canadians saving for retirement. Unfortunately for Menzies, his enthusiasm never really rubbed off on the country’s provincial governments, whose help he […]
When Sandy Coughlin first joined B.C. health provider Providence Health Care in 1996, she didn’t see herself as much of a numbers person. Two decades on, the conversion is complete for the organization’s director of occupational health and safety. “I’m a data geek and proud of it,” she says. Coughlin’s moment of transformation came just […]