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HOOPP, Social Capital Partners financing Taylor Guitars’ move to 100% employee-ownership

Taylor Guitars is moving to a 100 per cent employee-ownership model with the help of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Canadian non-profit Social…

Editorial: Helping turn retirement dreams into reality pays off

Remember those Freedom 55 ads that always seemed to be on TV in the ‘80s and ‘90s? I recently went down a YouTube rabbit hole…

Head to head: Should employers allow staff to carry over their annual paramedical coverage?

With many employees pausing paramedical care during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, two benefits experts weigh in on letting workers carry coverage over to 2021. Kevin…

How Citigroup is using leave policies to support employees amid the pandemic

As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic reshape the Canadian workplace and employees struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy, Citigroup Inc. is preparing for…

2021 Drug Plan Trends Report: Diving deep into pros and cons of drug pooling

Specialty drugs can significantly improve (or even save) an employee’s life, but can come at a high cost. Over the past few decades, many employers…

Real estate investments balloon as future of retail, office sectors remain up in the air

Like many pension experts, Peter Ballon, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s global head of real estate, will have the early days of March 2020…

How the TTC Pension Fund Society is staying on track during the coronavirus crisis

Since last March, the coronavirus pandemic has derailed the best-laid plans of many organizations, including the Toronto Transit Commission. With so many white-collar employees working…

How are employers supporting the big shift to remote work?

For years, many employees had ad hoc, work-from-home arrangements with their employers. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which kicked the shift to remote working into…

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The Royal Mail Group’s road to offering U.K. employees a collective DC plan

The Royal Mail Group Ltd. will soon make history in the United Kingdom by becoming the first employer to sponsor an entirely new type of…

Q&A with Coca-Cola Canada’s Martha Callum

Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd.’s senior director of total rewards, talks about the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, diversity and inclusion initiatives and perfecting her baguette…

Canada Life partnering with Shoppers Drug Mart-led health-coaching program

Canada Life Assurance Co. is introducing a new health-coaching program, led by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.’s Health Solutions team, to help Canadians prevent and manage…

  • By: Staff
  • March 1, 2021 March 2, 2021
  • 09:00

Canadian employees taking less time off amid pandemic uncertainty: report

Midway through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, Humi, a human resources, benefits and payroll solutions company, noticed an interesting trend in data from…

Majority of Canadians support extending EI sickness benefit to at least 26 weeks: survey

A new survey by Ipsos for the Canadian Cancer Society showed 88 per cent of Canadians support extending the employment insurance sickness benefit to at…

  • By: Staff
  • February 25, 2021 February 26, 2021
  • 09:00

SEB, EQ Care partnering on virtual employee assistance program

SEB Administrative Services Inc. and EQ Care are launching LifeJourney a virtual employee assistance program offering. The subsidiary of Smart Employee Benefits Inc. and the…

  • By: Staff
  • February 25, 2021 February 24, 2021
  • 09:00

Unilever Canada making Maple’s virtual-care program for employees permanent

Following a pilot program, Unilever Canada Inc. is making its partnership with Maple to provide ongoing, on-demand virtual care to the employees of the consumer-goods…

  • By: Staff
  • February 24, 2021 February 26, 2021
  • 09:00
Employee off-hours conduct during coronavirus pandemic leading to dismissals

Editorial: Don’t waste this mental-health crisis

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. The epigram was first coined back in 2004, but it remains as relevant as it was 17…

Head to head: Are employees being prescribed too much medication for mental-health issues?

With claims trends on the rise in workplace benefits plans, two medical professionals compare different treatment paths for mental-health care. Dr. Karen Cohen, chief executive…

  • February 16, 2021 April 26, 2021
  • 08:59

How 5 employers are helping staff battle mental-health challenges

In the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards, the finalists in the mental-health category have a key feature in common — their passion for promoting and supporting…

How to manage the employee mental-health tsunami

In early 2020, many employees had no idea a great wave was on its way. While reports of a novel coronavirus spread around the globe,…

Pension plans navigating bumpy road to recovery

Promising vaccine and coronavirus treatment news, coupled with the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, has given markets a glimmer of certainty and optimism this…

Pension regulators step up amid turmoil

For almost a year now, federal and provincial pension regulators have been busily trying to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Regulators have never…

Lessons from the Desjardins Group pension plan on pivoting after economic turmoil

The Desjardins Group pension plan faced a reckoning following the 2008/09 financial crisis: its assets were down 40 per cent and it was watching other…

Using data to develop holistic workplace mental-health training

When CGI Group Inc. launched its mental-health and wellness program six years ago, its primary focus was on education and reducing stigma. Since then, the…

Bulk pension annuity purchases reign supreme in the U.K.

Defined benefit pension plans naturally carry a number of risks, from fluctuating interest rates and investments to the lifespan of their plan members. To mitigate…