A key aspect to managing the increasing compensation costs of federal government employees is a transition away from defined benefit pension models, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. Target-benefit plans would provide more stable contribution rates by allowing more benefit flexibility, says the report, while another option would be jointly-sponsored pension plans, in […]
I’ve often said that Canada’s three-pillar retirement income system serves today’s seniors rather well, especially those who used to have lower working income. The system is far from perfect, however, and one of its more glaring flaws involves the ages at which people can retire. I have yet to hear a cogent justification for why […]
The Ontario government is moving to allow for variable benefits from defined contribution pension plans, according to the 2017 budget tabled yesterday. “I think it’s positive the Ontario government gets that [addressing] decumulation is a rising need for capital accumulation plans,” says Joe Nunes, president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. But he cautions that the proposed solution, […]
When it comes to addressing the many challenges facing pension and benefits plans, we already know many of the solutions. Taking action on them, however, is often a different matter. As Benefits Canada reported in its annual report on drug plan trends last month, many plan sponsors have reached a crisis point around escalating costs. […]
The Public Employees Benefits Agency, which administers the pension plan for public sector employees in Saskatchewan, has been looking at how to support members around decumulation for several years. “It’s a big issue. If you think about it, many people in a defined contribution plan go into a default fund and stay there forever. So […]
Younger Canadians are at risk of shouldering any future deficit in the expanded Canada Pension Plan if it experiences shortfalls in investment returns, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The institute’s report references calculations by Canada’s chief actuary, published in October 2016, that predicted the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board must earn an […]
Now is the time for employers to start looking at the Canada Pension Plan enhancements and their potential affects on workplace pension plans, said lawyer Stephanie Kalinowski during an event in Toronto on Wednesday. “Especially for [defined contribution] plans, in particular, it’s really an opportunity to step back and look at your overall plan design.” […]
Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr has all but ruled out a return to the old way injured veterans received pensions, setting up a potentially vicious fight with some of those hurt in uniform. In an interview Friday with The Canadian Press, Hehr touted the benefits and services available under the New Veterans Charter, which replaced […]
It’s time to bring innovation to federal employee pension plans, Keith Ambachtsheer and Jim Leech wrote in an open letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau last week. As it stands, these defined benefit plans place the full risk on taxpayers and could become “the Titantics of the 21st century,” note Ambachtsheer, director emeritus of the International Centre […]
As the government moves forward on enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan, critics are raising concerns about the absence of a dropout clause for parents who temporarily stop working in order to care of their children. The current CPP allows parents to exclude time away from work during child-rearing years when calculating their contributions. It also […]