Latest news in Benefits Canada Archive

Head to head: Should access to prescription drugs be restricted during coronavirus?

Head to head: Should access to prescription drugs be restricted during coronavirus?

The limitation of prescriptions to 30-day supplies aims to protect against drug shortages, but it’s creating challenges for Canadians who are living on fixed incomes.…

Fluor Canada cares for employee well-being during coronavirus

Fluor Canada cares for employee well-being during coronavirus

Employers across Canada are facing a number of challenges in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, including staying connected with employees and looking after their…

2020 CAP Member Survey webinar: Challenges ahead

2020 CAP Member Survey webinar: Challenges ahead

As if preparing for retirement wasn’t already a steep challenge, along comes the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, throwing up even…

Where can pension funds find returns in a low interest rate environment?

Where can pension funds find returns in a low interest rate environment?

Investors were already feeling the pressures of historically low interest rates. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank of Canada cut its overnight interest rate…

An in-depth look at LGBTQ+ benefits

An in-depth look at LGBTQ+ benefits

In June 2017, the federal government amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to strengthen protections against employment discrimination for LGBTQ+ individuals, forbidding employers across all…

How the Saskatchewan Pension Plan helps members through retirement

How the Saskatchewan Pension Plan helps members through retirement

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is improving investment choice for members in the accumulation phase and introducing new options to help them through decumulation as well.…

Back to basics on factor investing

Back to basics on factor investing

Factor investing is a style of management that aims to harvest the common traits of a group or basket of securities that helps inform their…

Q&A will Rolls Royce Canada’s Hosam Azara

Q&A with Rolls Royce Canada’s Hosam Azara

Rolls Royce Canada Ltd.’s reward and pension manager talks benefits plan costs, Excel spreadsheets and playing soccer with his daughter. Q. What top challenges do you…

Webinar: Coronavirus and chronic disease: What are the effects on the workforce?

On May 21, Benefits Canada hosted a webinar to explore the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on chronic disease in the workplace, as well as how virtual…

Bâtirente grows AUM, pension membership in 2019

Bâtirente grows AUM, pension membership in 2019

Quebec-based pension fund Bâtirente reached $764.3 million in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2019, an increase of 15.6 per cent on the previous…

  • By: Staff
  • June 18, 2020 November 11, 2020
  • 08:45

Foodora workers vote to join Canadian Union of Postal Workers

While Foodora announced in April that it’s shutting down its Canadian operations, its Toronto and Mississauga drivers, nevertheless, have voted to join the Canadian Union of Postal…

  • By: Staff
  • June 17, 2020 December 2, 2020
  • 15:15
OPSEU members latest to join OPTrust Select

OPSEU members latest to join OPTrust Select

Workplaces represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union are among the latest employers to join the OPSEU Pension Trust’s defined benefit plan, OPTrust Select.…

  • By: Staff
  • June 17, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:15
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Bank of Canada has no immediate intentions to raise interest rates, Macklem says

Canada’s new top central banker says the Bank of Canada has no intention to raise interest rates given the current economic circumstances created by the…

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Private equity exits slowed drastically in wake of coronavirus

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rock the global economy, private equity exits have largely come to a halt since mid-March, according to a report…

  • By: Staff
  • June 17, 2020 December 6, 2020
  • 09:36

Downside protection strategy saves LAPP $1.9 billion

The volatility caused by the coronavirus pandemic made the first quarter of 2020 rough for many Canadian defined benefit pension plans. In early June, the…

Feds extending CERB by eight weeks

Feds extending CERB by eight weeks

The federal government is extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit for an additional eight weeks to support Canadians who haven’t been able to find employment as provinces start…

  • By: Staff
  • June 16, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:30
New study highlights value of pharmacogenetic-guided drug treatment

New study highlights value of pharmacogenetic-guided drug treatment

The results of a new study highlight the value of tailoring drug treatment to an individual’s genetic makeup. The pharmacogenetics clinical trial study by Green…

  • By: Staff
  • June 16, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:15
Slack allowing employees to work from home permanently

Slack allowing employees to work from home permanently

Slack Technologies Inc. is offering its employees the option to work from home permanently, along with extending its coronavirus-related office closures past Sept. 1. In a blog post,…

  • By: Staff
  • June 16, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:00
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How will technology change investment landscape going forward?

While technological change is accelerating at a rapid rate, the financial system isn’t keeping pace, says Campbell Harvey, professor of finance at Duke University’s Fuqua…

Five workplace changes that should stay post-coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has been disruptive for all and sadly, devastating and difficult for many. In the pandemic’s early days, we saw a great deal…

Charles Emond, Jean Raby to co-chair Investor Leadership Network’s CEO council

Charles Emond, Jean Raby to co-chair Investor Leadership Network’s CEO council

The Investor Leadership Network is appointing Charles Emond, president and chief executive officer of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Jean Raby, CEO of Natixis…

  • By: Staff
  • June 16, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 08:45
Canada Life thanks staff with two paid days off, prepares for return to work

Canada Life thanks staff with two paid days off, prepares for return to work

As the Canada Life Assurance Co. prepares a phased approach for returning to the office, the insurer is thanking its more than 11,000 employees with…

  • By: Staff
  • June 15, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:15
Optima Global Health partnering with MindBeacon for online CBT

Optima Global Health partnering with MindBeacon for online CBT

Optima Global Health is partnering with MindBeacon to offer its online cognitive behavioural therapy service to plan sponsors. “Mental health is more important than ever…

  • By: Staff
  • June 15, 2020 November 12, 2020
  • 15:00
Employee well-being growing area of post-pandemic focus for employers: survey

Employee well-being growing area of post-pandemic focus for employers: survey

While 72 per cent of Canadian employers said they’ll make minimal or no changes to their benefits coverage in 2021, 21 per cent are planning…

How the OPB mixes guidance, support and advice to optimize pension member decisions

Pension plan members are buffeted from all sides by information on retirement options — some reliable, some not — especially now that the coronavirus pandemic…