Since Grace Palombo joined Great-West Lifeco Inc. five years ago, she’s seen a shift at the company. Back then, in her role as executive vice-president and chief human resources officer, she was the only woman in a group of 12 executives who reported to the chief executive officer. Today, the company’s leadership includes eight members […]
Manulife Financial Corp. is rolling out its Vitality health and wellness app to all its group benefits plan members after initially launching it with its own employees. The Vitality program, which connects with wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness bracelets and smartphones, is designed to encourage users to make healthy choices and rewards them with gift […]
Employers should consider adjusting their job posting requirements and becoming more creative to attract diverse candidates to their companies. Speaking at the Toronto Global Forum on Wednesday, Neil Parmenter, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Bankers Association, recalled a conversation with an executive recruiter friend who often had difficulty finding a candidates for a board appointments. Organizations […]
Five major pharmaceutical companies have filed a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s incoming changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. The complaint was filed in Quebec Superior Court by the Canadian subsidiaries of Merck & Co., Janssen Inc., Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd. and Servier Inc. In statements provided to Benefits Canada, the companies […]
Shopify Inc. is putting out the welcome mat for software developers who’ve taken leave from work with its new training program. The three-month paid program will help senior developers re-join the workforce after leaves of absence by bringing them up to speed on any technical developments in their field and training them on the Shopify […]
When employees at Accenture begin a gender transition, they have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits. In 2011, the global consulting firm became one of the first companies in Canada to cover costs related to transitioning. Zoya Zayler, inclusion and diversity lead for Canada, says the organization worked with its benefits provider to design a fulsome and customizable […]
In 2016, KPMG Canada’s benefits program was facing a perfect storm: the company was starting to see a change in its workforce’s needs; employees didn’t value some of its offerings, found the program difficult to understand and felt the pay and total rewards package weren’t competitive; and the organization’s new management team didn’t believe the […]
On the same day Keith Dixon began working at the University of Victoria, the campus gained another new addition: its combination pension plan. Introduced in July 1968, the plan is fairly unique in the world of Canadian pensions. It operates on a defined contribution basis, with the university and plan members each contributing. But when […]
Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s benefits program manager discusses engaging young employees with retirement savings, yoga benefits and riding his motorcycle to Whistler. Q. What top challenges do you face in your role? A. I look after our retirement savings program, so the challenge we have is based on our demographics. All of our retail employees are fairly […]
Private plan sponsors can expect to see lower drug prices resulting from recent changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, but there may also be unintended consequences. The reforms, announced Aug. 9 and expected to come into effect July 1, 2020, will update the reference countries Canada uses to compare its prices internationally. They’ll […]