An open letter from a group of Canada’s leading pension organizations is calling on the country’s finance ministers to create a federal-provincial task force to identify possible solutions to Canada’s pension coverage challenges. Addressed to every finance minister in the country, the letter urges them to acknowledge that pension coverage and management cost problems are […]
A Toronto hotel provided the forum for comprehensive and spirited debate on Canada’s retirement system on Wednesday. Speaking at the Conference Board of Canada’s Summit on the Future of Pensions, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan president John Crocker delivered a staunch defense of defined benefit (DB) plans, explaining that the emerging conventional wisdom of DB […]
Canadians have been too polite about how disastrous the past two years have been in private equity, says AIMCo's Rieckelman.
B.C. finance minister Colin Hansen has identified a voluntary, supplemental pension plan based on the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as the most likely option for pension reform. “The first priority for me is to get as broad a pan-Canadian plan as possible, and if we can achieve that with a supplemental plan, then great,” Hansen […]
B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen is refuting the findings of an influential report on Canada’s retirement system and is making fresh appeals for reform, reports the Canadian Press. Hansen released a previously confidential paper on Thursday which identifies two ideas as the most promising options, involving the creation of a voluntary supplemental tier to the […]
1. IFRIC: another nail in DB’s coffin? IFRIC interpretation may hasten the demise of the Canadian DB pension. Read more 2. The dogs that didn’t bark a careful examination of Ottawa’s proposed pension reforms may ultimately be more significant for what it omits than for what it includes. Read more 3. Pension reform is upon […]
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is backing the idea of a supplementary government pension plan, saying Canadians are not saving enough for retirement. “We are calling on the government to make saving and full retirement easier and more secure for all Canadians,” Ignatieff told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 8. The proposed supplementary Canada pension […]
There has been much discussion about the state of the Canadian pension system. Many defined benefit (DB) plans are underfunded, most defined contribution (DC) plan participants are not saving enough, and some Canadians do not save at all. Concerned about the state of Canadian pensions, Alberta, BC, Ontario and Nova Scotia struck expert commissions which […]
Defined contribution pension coverage for the masses has become a very hot political topic in recent months. It has occupied the minds of federal and provincial finance ministers, pension commentators and life insurers as a front and center issue. The major concern that is emerging surrounds the concept of the Alberta/BC Pension Plan (a.k.a. the […]
The past year has seen many new ideas foster around how to improve defined contribution (DC)-type retirement savings arrangements, many involving governments playing a much more active role. The Alberta-B.C. (ABC) plan is probably the one concept that has attracted the most attention. Is Canada ready for such (potentially) drastic changes? What needs fixing The […]