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

Editorial: It’s time to embrace the many workplaces of the future

As the days grow warmer and Canada’s gradual seasonal shift steers toward spring, employers across the country are finally implementing their longstanding and much-delayed plans…

Head to head: Should Canada implement a four-day workweek?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect people’s employment experience, four-day workweek trials around the world are testing a new way of working. Tina Dacin,…

Imperial Tobacco leverages career development to support employee well-being

The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic was the catalyst Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. needed to breathe new life into its employee wellness strategy. While the…

How are personalized communications connecting with employees?

As employers increasingly customize their human resources, benefits and pension communications campaigns, how are these methods connecting with employees? Long gone are the days of…

A look at MEPPs in a shifting pension landscape

As the move away from traditional defined benefit plans continues and intensifies, Canada’s multi-employer pension plans are providing employers with another retirement savings option for…

2022 Top 40 Money Managers Report: Geopolitics roaring back into focus for institutional investors

While politics plays a role in most investment decisions, it tends to arise on a fairly localized basis, says Michael Craig, head of the asset…

Photo by Michelle Quance

A look at HOOPP’s move into alternatives and growing its in-house investing expertise

Michael Wissell, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s recently appointed chief investment officer, is stewarding the $114.4-billion plan’s growth while preserving its historic drivers of…

How employers are maximizing health-care spending and wellness accounts

Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, health-care spending and wellness accounts have been vital tools in employers’ support toolboxes. Whether it’s increasing the dollar…

Q & A with Courtney McMillian

Twitter Inc.’s head of total rewards discusses personalized offerings, the benefits of an employee learning allowance and travelling post-pandemic. Q: What top challenges do you…

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

Editorial: Modern pension plan design isn’t black and white

Earlier this year, I received an email from a Canadian National Railway Co. employee who had recently learned their defined benefit pension plan was winding…

Head to head: What’s the best type of default fund for a DC plan?

As the default funds in defined contribution plans evolve, two experts weigh in on the merits of more customized options. Olivia S. Mitchell, professor and…

How Foresters Financial redesigned its pension, benefits plans to provide employees with more flexibility

In 2021, Foresters Financial redesigned its retirement and benefits plans to be more flexible, relevant and competitive, modernizing the plans with the recognition that employees…

A look at the pandemic’s impact on pension plans in Canada’s travel, transportation sectors

The economic impact of the pandemic has been unevenly distributed across various industries, with travel and transportation among the hardest-hit sectors. However, while travel restrictions…

2022 Group Benefits Providers Report: Virtual platforms reshaping public, private health-care landscape

Four months ago, my daughter woke up with a stye in one eye. While my 10-year-old was handling her infection like a champ, I wasn’t.…

ESG integration gaining steam as institutional investors challenge myths

The focus on environmental, social and governance factors is a train that’s leaving the station, but some pension plan sponsors and institutional investors remain hesitant…

A look at the Pension Plan of the United Church of Canada’s efforts to be a good shepherd of capital

Jesus had a fractious relationship with the financial sector of his day. For those who work at the intersection of religion and finance, the reverberations…

Back to basics on gold

At the beginning of 2020, the OPSEU Pension Trust upped its gold allocation to close to six per cent of its total fund after a…

How to help employees struggling with substance use amid the pandemic and beyond

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, people found different ways of coping, from baking sourdough bread to clapping for health-care heroes to drinking…

Q&A with Endy’s Hemalee Sisodraker

Endy’s director of people and culture discusses the importance of the employee experience; diversity, equity and inclusion commitments; and exploring Toronto. Q: What top challenges…

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

Editorial: Benefits, pension plans continue to feel the impact of the pandemic

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus a global pandemic. In some ways, we’ve come a long way…

Head to Head: Should the U.S. ESOP structure be brought to Canada?

Canadian employers should consider the pros and cons of employee share ownership plans on both sides of the border. Loren Rodgers, executive director of the…

How LifeLabs redesigned its RRSP-DPSP to maximize employee engagement

In 2020, LifeLabs Inc. embarked on a year-long journey to redesign its group registered retirement savings plan and deferred profit-sharing plan to make them less…

What do rising inflation, interest rates mean for pension de-risking?

After navigating the unpredictable markets of the past two decades, some defined benefit pension plan sponsors could be forgiven for wanting to seek out some…

2022 Drug Plan Trends Report: High-cost drugs, DEI shaping drug plans

This month marks the second anniversary of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a 24-month span that has had profound effects on the health of…

Pension plan sponsors push on with real estate investments despite Omicron setback

Right from the very beginning, the coronavirus pandemic has taken Canadian real estate investors on a wild ride. After the freefalling panic of March 2020,…