Canadians received a record $103 billion in benefits from life and health insurers last year, up 60 per cent from a decade earlier, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. The benefits include $53.3 billion in pension annuity payments, $38.1 billion in health benefits for prescription drugs and supplementary health […]
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 Mohawk College Foundation is the latest employer to join the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan’s DBplus. Prior to the move, which took effect Aug. 1, 2020, foundation employees contributed to a group registered retirement savings plan. On an individual basis, they’re now eligible to transfer their group RRSP balances into DBplus. […]
The Investment Industry Association of Canada is calling on the federal government to make improvements to tax-assisted retirement savings programs, modernize the country’s employment insurance system and introduce a benefit training program. In its written submission for the House of Commons standing committee on finance’s pre-budget consultations, the IIAC suggested the 2020 federal budget include […]
A retiree faces a 50 per cent probability of receiving more income by delaying Canada Pension Plan payments, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. The report, authored by Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, director of financial security research at Ryerson University’s National Institute on Ageing, investigated the financial […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on the Ontario government to consider amending the Employment Standards Act and the Pension Benefits Act to allow for auto-enrolment and auto-escalation features in capital accumulation plans. Specifically, it’s suggesting the government allow employers to automatically deduct employee contributions from payroll to facilitate these features. “The shift […]
The pandemic changed our world and our jobs overnight and stretched compassion, empathy and flexibility to the limit. There has never been a better time to reconsider everything about employee benefits. For me as a benefits consultant, the crisis has highlighted how unprepared the typical benefits plan is to truly support the needs of employees in […]
The collapse in the equity markets has damaged capital accumulation plan retirement accounts. Governments need to level the playing field between defined benefit plans and CAPs, which include defined contribution plans, registered retirement savings plans and pooled registered pension plans, to assist capital accumulation plan members in rebuilding their retirement accounts. If investments are not […]
A retiree whose retirement savings are primarily in a registered savings plan, such as a life income fund or registered retirement income fund, already faces a number of risks and challenges during their retirement years. But a significant financial market correction highlights one of these challenges — how much income should be withdrawn from the […]
While many Canadians can’t wait to start drawing down Canada Pension Plan benefits when they turn 65, it’s important to consider whether that’s the right move Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, director of financial security research at Ryerson University’s National Institute on Ageing Delaying CPP is the safest, most inexpensive approach to receiving more secure retirement income. Yet […]