Median solvency ratio drops on UK vote: Mercer
The solvency ratio of a typical Canadian pension plan has fallen by almost three per cent since the majority of Britain voted to leave the European Union last week, according to the Mercer Pension Health Index. The median solvency ratio of the pension plans of Mercer clients stood at 82 per cent on June 27, […]
Ottawa has reached an agreement in principle with most of the provinces to expand the Canada Pension Plan for the first time in nearly 20 years. “It’s an exciting time for retirement. The finance minister and provinces were able to come in together to provide a national solution for Canadians,” says Jean-Philippe Provost, leader of Mercer’s […]
While some employers have responded to employee requests for more workplace flexibility by offering unlimited vacation time, professional services firm KPMG has taken a different tactic. It allows its staff to buy extra vacation time. Canadian employees at KPMG get three to five weeks of vacation a year, depending on years of service. But those […]
This year is shaping up to be a watershed year for solvency funding reform, with funding ratios on the decline and a growing clamour to revise the rules by which sponsors must keep their defined benefit pension plans in the black. While a temporary spike in Canadian 10-year bond yields had arrested and reversed a […]
When Sandy Coughlin first joined B.C. health provider Providence Health Care in 1996, she didn’t see herself as much of a numbers person. Two decades on, the conversion is complete for the organization’s director of occupational health and safety. “I’m a data geek and proud of it,” she says. Coughlin’s moment of transformation came just […]
With the Canada Pension Plan on many people’s minds, how does Canada’s public pension system compare to those of other countries? In light of the debate over the CPP and old-age security, Benefits Canada takes a look at how Canada’s system stacks up against other countries around the world. The Mercer Melbourne Global Pension Index ranks Canada’s retirement income […]
What does Canada do better than any other country? Play hockey? Let’s not go there. Run an effective, efficient and sustainable retirement income system for the general population? It doesn’t do that as much as we’d like. Canada rates fourth in the best-known international comparison in this area, the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index. There are reasons why […]
Conference highlights and agenda ready for viewing.
Retiree benefit plans are shrinking or dropping off the map altogether, Mercer found in its 2015 post-retirement benefits trends poll released today. Just 15 years ago, most large Canadian companies offered one or more retiree benefit plans, with retirees paying little or nothing. But costs for those plans have jumped by 150 per cent since […]