The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is urging Ontario to take an actuarial approach to its proposed changes for the pension benefits guarantee fund. The province has proposed increasing the guarantee provided by the fund to $1,500 per month from $1,000. In a wider submission to the province’s Ministry of Finance on the proposed new funding rules for defined […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has responded to Ontario’s description of its proposed funding rules for defined benefit plans. While the provincial government’s document, published in December 2017, included details on how the provision for adverse deviations would work under proposed new going-concern rules, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ submission says more information is required on how these were established. “We encourage the Ministry […]
A group of Sears Canada Inc. pensioners will ask the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday to appoint a litigation trustee to review certain actions leading up to the company’s restructuring proceedings in 2017. According to a notice of motion filed on Feb. 9, 2018, former Ontario Superior Court justice Frank Newbould, the group’s proposed trustee, would review, among other […]
The ongoing Sears Canada Inc. and Wabush Mines restructurings illustrate that there’s perhaps nothing as vexing in insolvency situations as the position that pension deficits occupy in the pecking order of creditor priorities. Indeed, many observers cite the issues over the status of the deemed trust that most provinces’ legislation imposes on pension deficits as […]
Global defined contribution plan assets are growing faster than defined benefit pension assets, according to a new report by the Thinking Ahead Institute and Willis Towers Watson. Over the past 20 years in the seven largest pension markets (Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States), defined contribution plan assets grew at a rate of […]
While 2017 was a relatively uneventful year in terms of legislative changes affecting pension plans, 2018 promises to be more significant, at least for many defined benefit plan sponsors in Ontario. The changes to the Ontario Pension Benefits Act scheduled to come into force during the coming year include: Funding and governance policies: Plan administrators will need to establish […]
Whether plan sponsors expect a bear or a bull market in 2018, if they’re in a position to de-risk their pension plan, they should do it now, according to two investment consultants who spoke at an event in Toronto on Thursday. “From our perspective, if you look at the world over the last six years, […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has responded to Nova Scotia’s consultation on a new defined benefit pension funding framework, including how a target-benefit funding model could be linked to an enhanced going-concern funding model. The province’s consultation, which began in September 2017, put forward a number of options for a new framework, including: maintaining the current solvency funding standard […]
Almost all Canadian middle-class families will see more money coming off their paycheques by the time changes to the Canada Pension Plan take full effect, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute. The report, released today, includes both the portion of CPP contributions paid by the employer and the employee in its calculations and accounts for the full […]
As 2017 draws to a close, we turn our attention to the new year. As usual, there’s a lot happening in the Canadian pension environment. Below are four pension trends to watch for in 2018. 1. Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan reform The Canada Pension Plan enhancements will be phased in from Jan. 1, 2019, and the Quebec […]