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 accrued account, instead of receiving a monthly lifetime pension at retirement. However, this portability option isn’t a requirement if members are eligible for retirement at the time they leave employment. […]
The Ontario government’s announcement in its April budget that it will be addressing the regulatory framework related to defined contribution pension plans has done little to quell the debate about whether modernization and expansion of the existing rules is necessary or desirable. Those in favour say that, as defined contribution plans continue to grow in […]
Assets in registered pension plans were $1.7 trillion in 2015, a three per cent increase from 2014, according to new figures published by Statistics Canada. Larger pension plans with at least 30,000 members held more than half (55.2 per cent) of the assets. Of those larger plans, 32 account for half of all pension plan […]
There’s little doubt that working Canadians want a secure source of retirement income. The challenge for the pension industry is how to deliver the desired retirement income in a sustainable manner. In April 2017, the Canadian Public Pension Leadership Council published the results of a survey that provided key takeaways that will be useful to governments, policy-makers […]
KPMG LLP has run its first series of retirement education sessions through in-person workshops, one-on-one meetings and a version on Skype for employees at its smaller locations. The firm introduced the sessions in May after a 2015 pilot program with a small group of employees found people wanted to receive more education about their retirement savings. […]
Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada is introducing what it says is a “great bridge to decumulation” by launching new target-date funds that focus defined contribution pension plan members on their goal for retirement income. The funds, which will be available for group savings plans in 2018, will require plan members to set a retirement income target […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is conducting a number of reviews this summer, looking into retirement projections and decumulation options for defined contribution pension plans, as well as developing guidance for plan administrators around missing members. The review into possible amendments to CAPSA’s guideline No. 8 on defined contribution pension plans, as well […]
Despite all of the worries over costs, more than half of employers surveyed by Benefits Canada expect benefits to be more generous 20 years from now. The research, undertaken by Benefits Canada as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, found 51 per cent of 191 executives at Canadian companies surveyed this spring hold that view. Another 37 per cent of […]
As part of its celebration of its 40th anniversary, Benefits Canada followed up on research undertaken five years ago into plan sponsors’ attitudes towards their pension and benefits plans. How do the results today compare to the 2012 findings? It’s no surprise that, according to Benefits Canada’s research, plan sponsors find costs the biggest challenge […]
It seems the current pension crisis — whether it be over reform of the Canada Pension Plan or high levels of underfunding among private plans — is always the most significant one yet. But as past issues of Benefits Canada going all the way back to the first one in 1977 show, alarm about the […]