The growing adoption of prohibitions against demanding sick notes to substantiate short-term absences, related to the health of employees or their immediate families, is among the emerging trends that are challenging employers in 2026. In November, British Columbia joined Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador in imposing […]
The new year will bring some big changes to the rules on in-office work for many employees across the country — including tens of thousands of provincial government staff in Ontario and Alberta who will be required back in the office full time. As of Jan. 5, Ontario provincial government employees will be expected 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 […]
Vestcor Inc. achieved an overall investment portfolio return of 12.2 per cent as at Dec. 31, 2024, surpassing its benchmark by 0.1 per cent. In a report, the New Brunswick-based investment manager said its total assets grew by $2 billion to $23.1 billion in 2024. Read: Vestcor returns 7.5% for 2023, amid rising inflation, high […]
From the unlocking of pension benefits in Nova Scotia to new pay transparency rules in Ontario, stories about pension and employment legislation caught the eyes of Benefits Canada’s readers in 2024. In addition, a pair of articles on the rollout of new glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist medications in Canada were also popular with readers. Here […]
Vestcor Corp. is reporting a 7.5 per cent return for 2023, despite the challenges of rising inflation and high interest rates. The New Brunswick-based investment organization achieved five- and 10-year annualized returns of 6.27 per cent and 6.73 per cent, respectively. In a press release, Vestcor noted these returns ensure its clients continue meeting their […]
An article on the Ontario Court of Appeal’s affirmation of a $1.5 million punitive damages award was the most-read article on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pensions and investment articles of the past week: 1. Court of Appeal upholds $1.5 million punitive damages award in LTD claims case 2. N.B. transferring 5 public […]
Legislation that mandates the transfer of five New Brunswick public sector defined benefit pension plans to a shared-risk model goes into effect today. The Pension Plan Sustainability and Transfer Act, which received royal assent in December, will impact more than 7,800 active members enrolled in five plans serving school board and nursing home employees and […]
An article on how Ontario’s proposed pay transparency legislation will impact employers was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. How Ontario pay transparency legislation will impact employers 2. Expert panel: How interest rates impact DB pension plans 3. How employers can shift younger workers’ ‘soft saving’ […]
The New Brunswick government introduced legislation Wednesday to transfer five of its public sector defined benefit pension plans to shared-risk plans, saying the move will ensure the sustainability of plans that have become unaffordable. “They were not designed to have cases where [employees] might work the same amount of years that [they are] retired,” said […]