Total drug costs grew to $2 billion in 2021, rising steadily from $1.4 billion in 2017, according to Green Shield Canada’s annual drug trends report. The report, which is based on claims reported by Green Shield Canada, found the number of claimants also increased from 1.9 million to 2.1 million over the same period. While […]
A survey on employee attitudes towards remote working was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Survey finds 78% of Canadian employees prefer working from home 2. 84% of stressed Canadian employees saving less than 5% of their pay: survey 3. ‘Quiet quitting’ a rallying […]
Nearly half (47 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members say their health was generally excellent or very good in the past year, up from 43 per cent in 2021, according to the 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. While just 10 per cent of plan members reported being in poor health, down from 13 per cent […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s subsidiary HOOPP Realty Inc. is selling a portfolio of industrial properties to a real estate investment trust. Under the terms of the deal, Skyline Industrial REIT1 will take ownership of four business parks located in the suburbs of Calgary and Edmonton for $309.25 million. The portfolio, which is more […]
A fifth (22 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members report their mental health over the past year was generally poor, more than twice the percentage (11 per cent) who said their overall health was poor, according to the 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. The survey, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, found […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is providing feedback on the Alberta government’s consultation draft of potential legislative and policy updates for private sector pension laws. While the PIAC doesn’t have specific views on how to calculate the provision for adverse deviation, it’s encouraged Alberta is considering a harmonized approach, wrote Sean Hewitt, chair of […]
Ontario-based StoneRidge Insurance Brokers Corp. is acquiring employee benefits consultancy MultiCare Group. The acquisition will allow StoneRidge to provide a full range of insurance, risk advisory and benefits services to employer clients, according to a press release. Adam Lewis, president of MultiCare, will join StoneRidge and Scott Studley has been appointed executive vice-president of the company’s […]
While nearly three-quarters of U.S. executives (74 per cent) and workers (71 per cent) agree pay equity is a top priority, employees say there’s more work to be done on the issue, according to a new survey by the Harvard Business Review and human resources consultancy UKG. The survey, which polled more than 3,000 employees […]
In response to the growing role of environmental, social and governance factors in the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System’s investing strategy, its private equity arm, OMERS Private Equity, is appointing Helen Rattee as its first managing director of ESG and portfolio thematics. In the role, she’ll manage the organization’s ESG program in a manner that mitigates […]
Efforts by central banks to reduce inflation could spark a global recession, according to a new report from the World Bank. “If the degree of global monetary policy tightening currently anticipated by markets is not enough to lower inflation to targets, experience from past global recessions suggests that the requisite additional tightening could give rise […]