Canpotex Ltd. is supporting employee financial wellness with its new first home savings account.
The FHSA, introduced in the federal government’s 2023 budget, allows Canadians to accumulate tax-free savings, within certain limits, towards the purchase of a first property.
The Saskatchewan-based potash exporter recently added the savings option for its 157 Canadian employees following discussions with its pension plan provider, iA Financial Group, that began when FHSAs were first announced, says Jessica Sobush, manager of human resources services and total rewards.
Read: FHSA may work best in conjunction with group RRSP, TFSA
“We said, ‘Put our name down on the list [to offer an FHSA].’ We have a younger workforce, so we figured we would have a good amount of employees [who would be eligible], which is why we decided to add it.”
While the FHSA was only introduced in April, employee interest in the account is growing, says Sobush, adding Canpotex recently held a company-wide webinar on the FHSA in order to better explain the offering and answer employee questions.
In addition to the FHSA, Canpotex also offers employees a group registered retirement savings plan and a group tax-free savings account as part of its savings options. It also maintains a defined benefit pension plan that was closed to new entrants in 2020, reiterating its commitment to employee financial wellness, she says.
“We have quite a robust pension and savings offering [and] that’s something we pride ourselves in providing to our employees — for example, the DB pension plan wasn’t closed too long ago. [With the FHSA], we just wanted to support eligible employees who want to save responsibly, whether they’re young or if they’re new to Canada.”
Read: Head to head: Should employees be saving for retirement or focusing on other financial priorities?