Intellectual property protection for biologic medicines in Canada falls far behind that in other countries, a new report from the Fraser Institute has found. Biologics’ intellectual property includes both the chemical structure of the molecule and the process for manufacturing it in living tissues, so product patents alone aren’t enough to protect and incentivize their […]
Amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Act take effect on July 1, including an update to the 10 per cent rule for investments and regulations around spousal consent for pension portability. From July 1, the 10 per cent rule for investments will be based on the market value of a federally regulated pension plan’s assets […]
Engagement levels among Canadian employees stagnated at 69 per cent between 2014 and 2015, according to Aon Hewitt’s global employee engagement report, while the U.S. saw a one percent increase to 64 per cent last year, including gains in 12 of the 15 engagement areas measured. “Obviously, commodity prices haven’t affected the U.S. economy as […]
Employers are quite satisfied with their health benefits offerings for prescription drugs (81 per cent), basic dental coverage (78 per cent) and paramedical services (74 per cent), the 2016 Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey found. When it comes to vision care and major dental services, however, plan sponsors’ satisfaction rates plummet to 15 per cent. That’s primarily […]
Boosting productivity is the top goal of providing a health benefit plan, according to 64 per cent of employer respondents to the 2016 Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey. The survey found employers also implement health benefit plans to maintain employee satisfaction (60 per cent), attract and retain employees (60 per cent), and take care of catastrophic […]
Two-thirds (66 per cent) of employer respondents have increased their benefits spend over the past three years, according to the 2016 Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey. The main reasons for spiking benefits costs, according to the survey, are more expensive drugs (54 per cent) and more plan members making drug claims (40 per cent), including for biologics […]
Plan sponsors underestimate the prevalence of chronic disease in the workplace, according to the 2016 Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey. While 59 per cent of employees have at least one chronic condition — high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression are the most common — plan sponsors think just 32 per cent do. “So there certainly […]
Real estate has become the main driver of increasing alternative allocations for sovereign investors, according to Invesco’s 2016 global sovereign asset management study. From 2012 to 2015, sovereign investors’ real estate assets grew to 6.5 per cent from three per cent of their portfolios, which represented faster growth than that of private equity and infrastructure combined, according […]
Mountain Equipment Co-op’s commitment to facilitating sustainable transportation for its employees goes far beyond bike racks and change rooms. In 2005, the outdoor gear retailer expanded its employee loan program from computers to bicycles and boats. The expansion was designed to both encourage staff to learn more about MEC products and to support their paddle- […]
I’m a newbie bike commuter, and a big chicken: in Toronto, I’ll only cycle on dedicated bicycle lanes. Luckily, if I tack on an extra eight kilometres to my commute, I can ride to Benefits Canada HQ almost entirely on bike paths. So two or three days a week, I’ll lug my rust-speckled clunker off the porch […]