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Editorial: Company culture in the age of coronavirus

Editorial: Discussing decumulation, slow pace of change in Canada’s pension industry

If I’ve learned one thing about the Canadian pension industry over the past six years, it’s that change comes at a snail’s pace. When I…

Head to head: Should Canadian governments eliminate pension solvency funding rules?

With defined benefit pension solvency reforms gradually coming in across the country, two experts debate whether there’s a better way to ensure DB plan sustainability…

A look at the Co-operators Group’s new decumulation offering

One, as Harry Nillson crooned in his classic breakup song, can feel like the loneliest number. At the end of working life, many retirees with…

How small and mid-sized employers can offer benefits like large employers

By beefing up its benefits programs and putting flexibility at the core of its offerings, Willful has been able to grow its staff amid a…

Top 2021 Money Managers Report: What questions should pension plan sponsors ask in 2022?

In the early days of 2020, no one could have foreseen the social and economic havoc the coronavirus pandemic would wreak on the world. Nearly…

  • By: Blake Wolfe
  • November 19, 2021 November 19, 2021
  • 08:53

How employers can use benefits offerings to support Indigenous employees

Real progress means walking the walk, not just talking the talk. In recent months, many employers have shown support for the Indigenous community by lowering…

CBC Pension Plan stays the course with liability-driven investment model

The best ship captains don’t put too much faith in weather forecasts — or those who do tend to see their vessels flounder. Perhaps that’s…

Back to basics on captive arrangements

Five years ago, Rolls Royce Canada Ltd. realized its insurer and one of its European divisions’ insurers had separate reinsurance through a larger multinational company,…

Q&A with Purolator’s Anna Manocchio

Purolator Inc.’s senior director of total rewards and human resources technology talks mental-health leadership, return to the workplace and the benefits of time outdoors Q:…

  • By: Blake Wolfe
  • November 19, 2021 November 19, 2021
  • 08:49
Editorial: Looking back — and ahead — in an unprecedented year

Editorial: Chronic disease, mental health in spotlight as pandemic surges on

With the Delta variant leading the coronavirus pandemic in a renewed surge, employers continue to have a surplus of challenges, regardless of whether or not…

Head to head: Should Canada implement a universal basic income?

Though the idea was coined by English philosopher Thomas More in his novel Utopia in 1516, several countries — including Canada — are considering how…

How Rolls Royce Canada is reducing drug plan costs while maintaining benefits offering

As innovative medicines become more widely covered in workplace drug plans, employers are tasked with finding new ways to control costs while ensuring members receive…

2021 Top 50 DC Plans Report: Refreshing pension plans to boost engagement, outcomes

While renovation shows on television tend to take a sledgehammer to every surface in a house for dramatic effect, there’s another way. Defined contribution pension…

Employers leveraging benefits, flexibility to prevent pandemic surge in disability claims

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ottawa Community Housing Corp. battened down the hatches and focused on addressing any absence management issues before…

Focusing on TDF glide paths as migration from DB to DC plans continue

The selection of a target-date fund glide path is more crucial than ever as the migration from DB to DC pension plans continues. Since its…

Helping employees understand the benefits of delaying CPP/QPP

The old adage “good things come to those who wait” is especially true of Canada and Quebec Pension Plan benefits. A $1,000 monthly CPP/QPP benefit…

Supporting employees with chronic conditions amid pandemic-fueled delays to care

As the country began shutting down to focus on beating back the coronavirus at the height of the pandemic in March 2020, people with chronic…

Q&A with SAP Canada’s Megan Smith

SAP Canada Inc.’s vice-president and head of human resources talks embracing flexible working, keeping the “human” in HR and winter sports. Q. What top challenges…

Editorial: Looking back — and ahead — in an unprecedented year

Editorial: Digital inclusion, employee support, flexibility key in return to the workplace

With restrictions gradually lifting across the country this summer, employers started to turn their attention to their return to the workplace plans. Now, the fourth…

Head to head: Should provincial governments require employers to provide minimum paid sick leave?

Eighteen months into the coronavirus pandemic and counting, one of its hottest topics is still up for debate. Jim Stanford, economist and director of the…

A look at Kraft Heinz Canada’s ‘work anywhere’ program

In the old days, many employers served up one option for employees: work 9-to-5 in the office. Then the pandemic hit. For the past 18…

Do large public pension funds need more third-party investment reviews?

When the coronavirus pandemic shook up the investment landscape last spring, Canadian pension funds were also jostled by the shock wave, with the Alberta Investment…

  • By: Blake Wolfe
  • September 17, 2021 September 16, 2021
  • 08:56

Women in Canada’s benefits, pension industries discuss gender equity, reversing pandemic-fueled ‘she-cession’

Early in Shannan Corey’s pension career, many of the boards she worked with were dominated by men over the age of 50. Corey, now executive…

How can pension plan sponsors help women hit their retirement readiness stride?

Preparing financially for retirement is a marathon filled with many obstacles along the way to a constantly shifting finish line. Even in 2021, female employees…

UPP building on jointly governed pension model with a pandemic launch

When the University Pension Plan officially launched in July 2021, it did so with Barbara Zvan as its inaugural president and chief executive officer. Fresh…