The province of Ontario is tackling pay transparency by introducing legislation that requires employers to track and publish information about compensation in their organizations. The proposed legislation, if passed, will require all publicly advertised job postings to include a range or rate of salary, prohibit employers from inquiring about a job candidate’s past compensation and prohibit reprisals against employees who […]
Plan sponsors and administrators finally have guidance on Quebec’s supplemental pension plan legislation, two years after initial amendments on Jan. 1, 2016. The regulations, which came into force on Jan. 4, 2018, don’t differ significantly from the draft version circulated for consultation last summer. The key features address annuity purchases, funding policies and variable benefits. Read: New pension […]
If there’s one thing that’s clear about pension reform in 2018, it’s that sponsors will have their hands full, particularly in Ontario. “There’s no question in my mind that impending changes to Ontario’s pension laws will motivate administrators and service providers to up their game,” says Mary Picard, a partner at Dentons Canada LLP’s Toronto […]
A new bill tabled in the Alberta legislature on Monday includes a number of proposals that would affect employers. If passed, Alberta employers will have to continue providing group benefits plans to injured workers under existing coverage for a year following an injury and support the return to work of employees who suffer injuries and illnesses in the […]
Ontario’s fall economic statement confirmed a number of previously announced frameworks for the province’s pension, health-care and employment programs, including a look at addressing decumulation. The statement, delivered by Ontario’s Finance Minister Charles Sousa on Tuesday, noted the government is exploring new approaches to help retirees draw down their savings in an efficient, cost-effective manner so their savings […]
Ontario is planning to allow workers to take five days of paid leave as part of its package of labour law changes. While the government had originally planned to allow for an unpaid leave of absence of up to 17 weeks when an employee or a child has experienced or is facing the threat of domestic or […]
Too much avocado toast isn’t the reason younger Canadians have a hard time getting a start on their retirement savings. Canadian millennials are “literally working and studying more to have less” than their parents and grandparents, according to Paul Kershaw, associate professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, […]
The Quebec government has announced a plan to expand the Quebec Pension Plan in line with reforms to the Canada Pension Plan. As part of the changes, the government will establish an additional component to the QPP, similar to the planned reforms to the CPP. There will be the basic plan, which has been in effect […]
The Canadian government will discontinue the Canada savings bond and Canada premium bonds program on Nov. 1, 2017. While existing bonds will continue as usual until they mature or the purchaser redeems them, the option of buying them through a payroll savings program will now be off the table. The program reached peak popularity in the 1980s, but […]
Earlier this month, Health Canada did some substantial editing to its website, removing all references to a planned regulatory framework for orphan drugs. Orphan drugs are medications that treat rare diseases. The framework was an effort to help increase their availability for patients and foster their development by companies and researchers. Currently, Canada is one of the […]