The Financial Services Regulatory Authority is seeking stakeholder input on draft guidance on providing consent for asset transfer transactions under the Pension Benefits Act. Aiming to support predictability and transparency for defined benefit plan administrators, sponsors and members and to protect of the rights of members, the guidance sets out how the FSRA will exercise its discretion and […]
In considering changes to its retirement savings programs, Rogers Communications Inc. is generally focused on three main internal and external factors: regulatory changes, employee feedback and demographics. “As we see the millennial and gen Z workforce grow quite a bit, we’re really trying to understand what that’s going to do to our plans in terms […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is lifting the temporary freeze on portability transfers for private pension plans. The move reverses the OSFI’s response in March to market volatility caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which froze portability transfers and annuity purchases from defined benefit pension plans. The restrictions are no longer needed, it noted in a […]
Benefits Canada is proud to announce the finalists of the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards. While this year’s entry and judging process occurred during the coronavirus pandemic, almost 100 leading employers embraced the opportunity to share their organization’s innovative initiatives and strategies. In fact, Benefits Canada even introduced a new category — Coronavirus and benefits — which received the most entries, so we divided […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System’s Sponsor Corp. board is changing from a co-chair to a chair and vice-chair system. After discussions on changes to the governance model that took place in 2019, the board voted unanimously to elect Frank Ramagnano and Barry Brown as its first chair and vice-chair, respectively, replacing its legacy arrangement, […]
Alberta’s Local Authorities Pension Plan is introducing a new secure section of its website where plan members can log in, access their personal account and learn about their pension. The features of Your Pension Profile include mobile-friendly access to pension information, self-serve options and useful tools to help plan for retirement or manage the plan. […]
The Public Sector Alliance of Canada is asking the federal government to change the way it reports the unfunded liabilities of public sector pension plans, arguing the current practice makes the cost of the plans appear more volatile. The federal government implemented a new discount rate methodology in 2017/18 for pre-2000 pension liabilities. It moved from using a 20-year […]
Quebec is applying new pension relief measures and is also extending the credit on employer contributions to the health services fund. The pension relief measures, which the federal government announced in early July, will allow registered pension plans to borrow money and extend the deadline to retroactively credit pensionable service under a defined benefit plan. […]
While many Canadians likely started the year worried about retirement savings as the markets were ravaged by the coronavirus fallout, some employers continued to introduce new savings offerings to help ensure their employees’ retirement security. In May 2020, the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre officially joined the OPSEU Pension Trust’s OPTrust Select, offering its employees a defined benefit […]
Whether it’s battling the challenges of plan maturity, increasing longevity, the changing nature of work or difficult financial markets, these so-called golden handcuffs are looking pretty dented in some cases. But the 10 years following the great financial crisis wasn’t all bad. Many public pension plans, as well as affiliated administrators and investment managers, have […]