The job of a pension consultant has evolved considerably over Bita Jenab’s 30-year career in the field. The mid-1990s saw a greater focus on governance…
While there are nuances, I consider a target-benefit plan to be one that determines benefits to members on a defined benefit basis while setting out…
Visitors to BenefitsCanada.com who type in a web address for a broken link will find a page with a lighthearted reply that reads: “Like a…
Facing a $10.3-million pension deficit in 2016, the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa had some tough decisions to make. It felt that closing its defined…
Ken Eady understands the challenges a defined benefit pension plan can present for plan sponsors, particularly when they find themselves in financial difficulty. “Healthy companies…
Since 2011, Norway’s national pension provider has been calculating the life expectancy of those turning 61 as part of pension reforms introduced at that time.…
Despite significant improvements recently to pension plan solvency levels, the start of 2018 has been a challenging one for institutional investors. Shifting monetary policies have…
For more than 30 years, Canada’s public sector pension organizations have distinguished themselves by delivering secure, sustainable defined benefit pensions and, in the process, have earned…
When it comes to the difficult issue of equity in pension plans, Quebec has been at the forefront recently with its plan to table a…
When Sears Canada Inc. announced it was going to liquidate its stores in 2017, the chain’s demise was a big concern for pension plan members…
Over the past 25 years, Canada’s retirement system has evolved significantly through new funding frameworks and federal and provincial reforms to facilitate innovation in plan…
In order to understand how much to save, the starting point should be determining a retirement budget. Not only will such an exercise help employees…
When Loblaw Companies Ltd. purchased annuities to reduce the risk in its defined benefit pension plans in January 2017, the $350-million, inflation-linked buyout kicked off…
While retirement may not yet be at the top of millennials’ priority lists, it won’t be long before they arrive on the pension scene. How…
The ongoing Sears Canada Inc. and Wabush Mines restructurings illustrate that there’s perhaps nothing as vexing in insolvency situations as the position that pension deficits…
While 2017 was a relatively uneventful year in terms of legislative changes affecting pension plans, 2018 promises to be more significant, at least for many defined benefit…
As 2017 draws to a close, we turn our attention to the new year. As usual, there’s a lot happening in the Canadian pension environment. Below are…
With the pension woes at Sears Canada Inc. in the spotlight, the political parties have been busy touting their solutions to the defined benefit conundrum.…
Canada’s public sector pension organizations are global leaders. Over the past 30 years, they’ve distinguished themselves in the delivery of secure and sustainable defined benefit…
It’s hard enough for plan members to understand how they can best use their benefits plans, particularly when they’re unaware of the details of the…
The days of working for one employer and contributing to a single pension plan for an entire career are long over. In fact, 28 per…
One year after the federal government unveiled legislation that would allow federally regulated employers to offer target-benefit pension plans, the proposal has stalled in the…
Pension plan administrators should get used to dealing with requests for their actuarial documents while lawyers duke it out over just how confidential they are,…
Legislation requires a defined benefit pension plan to provide members leaving active service with the option of transferring out the lump-sum commuted value of their…
Among those with the most to worry about when a company as big as Sears Canada Inc. enters restructuring proceedings are the members of the…