Ontario’s pension regulatory landscape has seen a number of recent changes, with many of these affecting defined contribution plan sponsors, according to one expert. Speaking at the 2018 Defined Contribution Investment Forum in Toronto in September, Mark Eagles, senior manager for pension policy at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, took delegates through the changes. The […]
Take the free money. This is my regular mantra for employees in employer-sponsored retirement plans. But many employees don’t enrol in company-sponsored plans or don’t take the maximum amount of free money available. When human resources professionals ask their employees why, their responses include: “I get a better return with my advisor, so I am contributing with her/him.” “The investment […]
Seven major pension stakeholders are urging the federal government to make longevity risk-pooling arrangements available to Canadians. The group includes the Association of Canadian Pension Management, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Common Wealth, the National Institute of Aging and the Pension Investment Association […]
Benefits Canada honoured winners across 11 categories at the 2018 Workplace Benefits Awards in Toronto on Thursday. In a room at the Arcadian Loft, more than 100 leaders in the benefits, pension and investment industry gathered to see awards presented to winning employers demonstrating the leading-edge work underway to improve employee’s physical, mental and financial health through tangible workplace programs. […]
Imagine there was an option to assemble the ideal retirement savings plan: a pinch of automatic features, a teaspoon of benefits guarantee, a cup of pooled investments, stirring the best elements of a defined benefit pension into the structure of a defined contribution plan. It may not be as simple as combining ingredients, but as […]
The use of target-date funds is on the rise in Canada, with more members of capital accumulation plans being offered the investment option every year. Half of plan sponsors with defined contribution plans (50 per cent) and group registered retirement savings plans (51 per cent) allocated target-date funds as their default option in 2016, according […]
The majority (84 per cent) of organizations in Canada’s non-profit sector said inconsistent revenue or funding is the biggest barrier to offering a pension plan, according to a survey by Common Good Retirement Initiative. Three-quarters (73 per cent) of survey respondents said offering a plan would be too expensive, 59 per cent said it would be […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is weighing in on the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities’ consultation on its defined contribution pension plan guideline. In a letter to the CAPSA, the association said it’s concerned about the requirements related to decision-making tools and requiring plan administrators to provide annual estimates of member account values […]
The pension and retirement savings was once again the growth leader in the life and health insurance industry in 2017, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. Of the $651 billion held in employer-sponsored pension plans last year, the industry was responsible for managing $152 billion, which is up from […]
Unifor members who work at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new collective agreement, which includes expanded benefits for dependants of part-time employees. The benefits will now include dental coverage, eye exams, prescription drugs and life insurance. The new agreement also includes an increase in pension contributions by 27 per cent over […]