The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has said it expects to perform an on-site examination of every pension plan in the province over the next five years. So what do plan sponsors need to know to prepare for the regulator’s knock on the door? First of all, the examinations aren’t random, said Randy Bauslaugh, practice […]
A House of Commons committee is recommending the government look for ways to deal with the solvency of Canada Post’s defined benefit pension plan, including a suggestion to examine the feasibility of adopting a shared-risk model. “Certainly for a large plan like Canada Post, a target-benefit or shared-risk model would provide a good alternative to […]
Home Hardware Stores Ltd. hosted a series of health fairs in November for more than 2,000 employees in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario to raise awareness of the health benefits available to them. While some of these locations have held health fairs in the past, this year marked the first time the organization included reward […]
Shopify Inc. has been named the best place to work in Canada in 2017 by jobs and recruiting marketplace Glassdoor. Its annual list of the best places to work honours workplaces across Canada, the United States, Britain, France and Germany. In Canada, the list showcases employers with 1,000 or more employees, ranking their workplace on […]
Global institutional investors are expecting to make more asset allocation changes in the next couple of years than they did in 2012 and 2014, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments. The anticipated shifts include alternative investments, domestic fixed income and cash. Globally, 72 per cent of respondents said they would increase their allocations […]
GE Canada has relaunched its online retirement tool to help employees understand how the organization supports them in saving for retirement and how they can optimize their financial picture. The online tool, which the company initially rolled out a year ago, allows employees to combine all of their savings plans in one place so they […]
The Ontario government spent $793,925 on new advertising out of the budget for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan after cancelling the program, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation through a freedom of information request. The ads promoted enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan, which is an area of federal responsibility, the taxpayers […]
The financial status of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plans showed significant improvement as returns for one of them hit a high of 16.3 per cent during its recent valuation period. According to the organization’s latest actuarial valuation report, the RCMP’s three pension plans showed a combined actuarial deficit of $368 million at March […]
The government is implementing a new reimbursement policy for veterans claiming marijuana for medical purposes, reducing the allowance from 10 grams per day to three grams. While the new policy establishes the three-gram limit, the government said there will be an exceptional circumstances process for veterans authorized for more than three grams per day that […]
KPMG has opened its annual flexible benefits enrolment window for the coming year and is encouraging employees to actively make selections for their 2017 coverage. The three-week window allows employees to choose from a menu that benefits best suit them, including medical, dental, insurance, short-term and long-term disability, as well as health pledges they can […]