The federal Liberals are facing calls from some of the hardest-hit businesses in the coronavirus pandemic to extend emergency-relief programs beyond June. The government has targeted June 5 for an end to the federal wage and rent subsidies and this week extended applications for a popular loan program to the same time. The idea is […]
The New Democratic Party tabled a motion on March 22 that would immediately turn Revera Inc. — a company that runs more than 500 seniors’ homes in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. — from a for-profit chain wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board into a publicly managed entity. The motion calls on the […]
Pension governance policies have been common for many years, at least since the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published its initial guidelines on pension plan governance in 2004. There are compelling reasons for plan administrators to have in place a formal pension governance structure and written governance policy. A governance policy, which sets out […]
A recent change to British Columbia employment law is making it easier for workers to claim compensation related to a coronavirus infection. Last August, B.C. added the coronavirus to its list of occupational illnesses, which means employees who contract the disease and make a claim don’t have to prove it occurred at their workplace if […]
Health Canada says it’s delaying the implementation of long-awaited changes to Canada’s drug-pricing regime by another six months. A spokesman for the department, says the amendments to patented medicine regulations, which were set to take effect Jan. 1, will now come into force on July 1. Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge says the postponement is intended to give pharmaceutical manufacturers […]
The federal government has published revised draft legislation for the Income Tax Act that would facilitate the conversion of existing health and welfare trusts into employee life and health trusts by 2022. The latest draft legislation follows an initial proposal in the government’s 2018 budget and draft legislative proposals released in May 2019. It noted that the […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is releasing a consultation draft of revisions to its pension plan funding policy guideline. The guideline provides direction on the development and adoption of funding policies for defined benefit and target-benefit pension plans, including best practices for plan administrators and sponsors. Read: CAPSA updates guidelines on DC plan payout, […]
The federal government is introducing new pay transparency regulations for federally regulated, private sector employers with 100 or more employees. The legislative amendment to the Equity Act, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, aims to help address equality and inclusion issues in the workplace. With the move, Canada will be the first country to make wage […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing new rules that would allow gig workers to be partially paid in company equity. If adopted, the proposed rules would be in effect for a five-year period and allow employers to pay gig workers up to 15 per cent of their annual compensation in equity, to a […]
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board published its new guidelines on Friday. The guidelines, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, aim to modernize Canada’s pricing framework for patented medicines. They explain the steps that will typically be taken by the PMPRB’s staff in assessing whether a patented medicine appears to be priced excessively in Canada. The […]