2017 is a big year for Benefits Canada as the publication celebrates its 40th anniversary. Over the years, the magazine’s activities have expanded to include a host of events, the Canadian Institutional Investment Network and a vibrant online presence. Check out the milestones below to see how Benefits Canada has changed, as well as some […]
When it comes to the cost of health benefits in 2017 and beyond, it’s no surprise industry experts are projecting increases across the board, from five to eight per cent for dental plans and up to 20 per cent for long-term disability coverage. So what are the trends for the coming year for the various […]
Institutional investors want ‘climate competency’ in Canada’s boardrooms: report
As part of its efforts to focus on wellness and expand its health and safety program, a B.C. logging company hosted two seminars with a happiness expert at the beginning of January. Island Timberlands has about 60 unionized employees who work on its logging sites and another 60 who work at one of its two main […]
Despite growing concern from institutional investors about the risks associated with climate change and the subsequent impact on companies in their portfolios, companies in Canada’s most carbon-intensive sectors are not demonstrating “climate competency” in the boardroom, according to a new report. The Shareholder Association for Research and Education’s report looked at disclosures from 52 companies […]
Xerox Corp. has completed its plan to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies, thereby spinning off its human resources arm, which included Buck Consultants, into a new business process services company called Conduent HR Services. The new company will continue to provide employers with human resources consulting and outsourcing solutions that focus on their employees’ […]
“The Ontario Registered Pension Plan was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. . . . Old ORPP was as dead as a door-nail.” With a paraphrased nod to that holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Benefits Canada takes a look at the ghost of 2016, Ontario’s would-be provincial pension […]
Pension plans administrators in Alberta’s private sector will have another year to put a governance policy in place. Under Bill 10, published in 2012, the provincial government set out a number of changes that would allow plan administrators to more easily develop pension plans that meet the needs of employers and employees. As part of […]
BASF Canada Inc. is enhancing its compassionate and bereavement policies for about 550 non-unionized employees across Canada. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, the chemicals company will change its bereavement policy to provide up to 10 paid days in the event of the death of an immediate family member and up to five paid days for close […]
Pensioners and members of the Northern Transportation Co. Ltd.’s pension plan reached a settlement with the company on Friday that will see all special payments, which had been suspended since August, paid into the fund. It provides the fund with a further $1.7 million, says Simon Archer, a lawyer at Koskie Minsky LLP, which represented […]