As I write this column, I’m reflecting on the spectrum of weather I’ve witnessed this past winter. From my office window in southwestern Ontario, I looked out onto snowy rooftops for maybe a week over the last several months. That’s contrasted with a recent trip to Nova Scotia, where a series of winter storms brought […]
An academic says environmental, social and governance terminology should evolve alongside understanding of the concept, while a consultant favours a focus on substance over form. Amir Akbari, assistant professor of finance, McMaster University As our understanding of sustainable development evolves, so, too, should our characterization of responsible investment. For instance, consider the United Nation’s Kunming-Montreal Global […]
Retirement benefits paid out by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System accounted for 9.3 per cent of retirement income in Ontario in 2023, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis. The report analyzed data related to the OMERS’ pension payments, operations and assets. It found members’ retirement income alone supported […]
Well hello there! We may have met during one of Benefits Canada’s and the Canadian Investment Review’s many events throughout the year, but if we haven’t, I’m usually helming our daily online news coverage from behind the scenes, while contributing to the monthly print magazine. You’ll be seeing me in this space for the next few […]
Since decreased cognition can impact retirees’ ability to make sound decisions, the Canadian Union of Public Employees urges its members to discuss financial matters with their families long before exiting the workforce. “If we wait until we’re in distress, we either make very bad decisions or we don’t make any decisions at all, which can […]
As the mental-health concerns of employees in remote working arrangements continue to evolve, Thomson Reuters Corp. is taking a flexible approach to supporting these workers. “Overall, there’s less of a [mental-health] crisis now [than there was at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic], when people felt they needed to always be on [their computers] and […]
The impacts of climate change and federal super-priority legislation on Canadian pension plans are among the issues that the Canadian Institute of Actuaries is monitoring in 2024, says Simon Nelson, a principal at Eckler Ltd. and chair of the CIA’s pension practice committee. While climate change is a consideration across all of the CIA’s practice […]
While there’s more work to be done before lifetime pension pools are widely implemented in North America, employers are increasingly aware of concepts such as variable payment life annuities, says Barbara Sanders, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University. “It seems that it’s being discussed fairly often. When in industry meetings, it’s certainly a very […]
Nearly all (92 per cent) Canadian employers say they plan to award a year-end bonus to their teams, according to a new survey by Robert Half Canada Inc. The survey, which polled more than 900 employers, found nearly half (45 per cent) said they’re awarding a larger bonus than last year, while two-fifths (39 per […]
With more than 40,000 employees across the country, Amazon Canada is a microcosm of the wider national workforce. Comprising five generations, the online retailer’s workers represent a wide spectrum of savings goals and related challenges. And to support these goals, it has developed a diverse array of options to meet staff at every stage of […]