Quebec’s incoming regulatory framework for variable payment life annuities requires additional clarity around the potential for fluctuating payouts to plan members, said the Association of Canadian Pension Management. In a letter to the provincial government, the ACPM said while it isn’t suggesting additional regulatory measures to enhance clarity, it’s encouraging the government to issue clear […]
The implementation of variable payment life annuities in Quebec will support employee financial well-being and retirement readiness, while providing a model for other Canadian jurisdictions, says Louis-Bernard Désilets, an associate at Normandin Beaudry. “Currently, there’s approximately $1.5 trillion in retirement savings accumulated in [registered retirement savings plans] and [defined contribution] plans in Canada, with likely […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on the Alberta government to modernize its provincial pension legislation and align its laws with other Canadian jurisdictions in terms of funding rules, innovation, administration and reducing red tape. In an open letter to Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner, the ACPM outlined several proposed legislative changes, based […]
For most of the decade since I joined Benefits Canada, it feels like the pension industry has been moving at a snail’s pace. Don’t get me wrong — I have witnessed many substantial (dare I say, exciting) developments in the industry, each one touted as a potential solution to Canadians’ retirement readiness concerns and increasingly […]
Benefits Canada celebrated the Defined Contribution Plan Summit’s 25th anniversary by looking at how the world has changed over the last quarter century, the subsequent impact on the pension sector and what’s next for DC pensions. On Feb. 26-28 in Montreal, the 2025 DC Plan Summit highlighted the lessons of the last several decades, putting […]
Over the past 25 years, the pension industry has seen many significant shifts, from defined benefit to defined contribution, from accumulation to decumulation and from education and guidance to financial planning, said Chris Walker, regional vice-president of business development and investment strategy at Desjardins Insurance, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit. […]
As defined contribution plans mature, Canada is seeing the first wave of retirees that only have DC plans and plan sponsors are facing the challenges of this decumulation phase. Speaking during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, Yashar Zarrabian, regional vice-president for Quebec at Sun Life Financial Inc., outlined three pillars to […]
While good governance practices must be at the core of any pension plan, intricate frameworks are designed to be proportional to the size of the sponsoring organization, according to Leah Fichter, vice-chair at the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities and deputy superintendent of pensions and executive director of the pensions division at the Financial […]
An emerging trend in U.S. defined contribution investment strategies is the ‘blend trend,’ which is a target-date solution that allocates to underlying building blocks that are managed both actively and passively. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, Jessica Sclafani, global retirement strategist at T. Rowe Price, shared data from the investment […]
Rather than a single defined contribution plan sponsor tackling the decumulation dilemma alone, decisions need to be reframed as a decumulation ecosystem, said Nicole Lomax, vice-president and portfolio manager in institutional asset allocation at TD Asset Management Inc. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, she outlined the five decumulation priorities based […]