Not everyone can say they’ve spent two decades at the same organization, but Candy Wong, portfolio manager of external managers and international strategies at Manitoba’s Civil Service Superannuation Board, is now in her 21st year at the public sector pension plan. “I don’t think you can foresee where you’re going to be, especially in finance. […]
A think tank is urging the federal government to abandon plans for a single-payer pharmacare program in the face of tariff-related fiscal uncertainty. Rosalie Wyonch, associate director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute, says in a new report released Thursday that the government should instead look to fill existing gaps in coverage. Ottawa should […]
What’s a plan administrator to do when an individual makes a claim to a pension entitlement that goes back many years after their employment — or in some cases, the employment of a spouse, partner, parent or even grandparent — has ended and available pension records are inconclusive? In a perfect world, when pension inquiries […]
Manitoba’s Pension Benefits Act could be improved by allowing for more flexibility in transfers of locked-in funds, said the Association of Canadian Pension Management. In its response to the province’s request for feedback on proposed changes to the PBA, the ACPM said the current legislation — which allows for a one-time transfer of up to […]
Administering a pension plan involves the accumulation of large amounts of data in the form of documents, filings, reports, emails and letters. At some point, plan administrators who have amassed all this information will ask themselves, “How long do we need to keep these records?” There’s some guidance from pension legislation, as well as pension […]
An article on how employers can prepare their benefits plans amid U.S. tariffs was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Expert panel: How employers can prepare their benefits plans, support employees amid U.S. tariff threat 2. […]
Pay transparency legislation is quickly gathering steam in Canada as provincial governments take steps towards shrinking the gender wage gap. Prince Edward Island was first to the post with pay transparency provisions in June 2022. While Newfoundland and Labrador’s Pay Equity and Transparency Act received royal assent in November 2022, its pay transparency provisions haven’t […]
An amendment to Manitoba’s Beneficiary Designation Act allows a pension plan member’s legal representative to now make a beneficiary designation on behalf of the member if they can’t make the designation themselves. However, the representative can only designate a beneficiary if the plan renews, replaces or converts a plan made by the participant and the same […]
Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador have officially ratified an agreement on multi-jurisdictional pension plans, which will come into effect on July 1. In March, the two provinces announced their intention to sign the agreement, which had previously been adopted by every other province except Prince Edward Island. The agreement’s adoption was contingent on an amended […]
Pension and retirement plan members in Newfoundland and Labrador can now designate beneficiaries through electronic means. The amendment allows individuals to name beneficiaries electronically for certain types of plans, including a workplace pension, retirement, welfare or profit-sharing fund or plan, a registered retirement income fund, a registered retirement savings plan or a tax-free savings account. […]