Health Canada says it’s delaying the implementation of long-awaited changes to Canada’s drug-pricing regime by another six months. A spokesman for the department, says the amendments to patented medicine regulations, which were set to take effect Jan. 1, will now come into force on July 1. Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge says the postponement is intended to give pharmaceutical manufacturers […]
A rally on the stock market in the fourth quarter helped boost the strength of Canadian defined benefit pension plans to end 2020, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The consulting firm said its pension health index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB plan, rose to 114 per cent at […]
The Canada Revenue Agency is introducing a simplified process to claim up to $400 in office expenses for Canadians working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. The process will allow employees to claim these expenses as deductions on their personal income tax return for the 2020 tax year. Eligible employees can claim a deduction if […]
Siemens Canada is paying out $3.4 million in one-time bonuses to Canadian workers in appreciation of their extra work during the coronavirus pandemic. The company said the payments, which will go to all employees apart from senior managers by the end of this year, work out to about $1,550 per eligible employee. Read: Managing the holiday party, bonus […]
Sobeys Inc. is bringing back pay premiums for staff in locations where coronavirus lockdowns are in effect. Parent company Empire Co. Ltd. has reinstated ‘hero pay’ in Manitoba, Toronto and Ontario’s Peel Region as rising cases of the virus in those areas have prompted the shutdown of non-essential businesses. Each week, eligible employees will see between $10 […]
A group of Canadian pension plan investment managers is calling on companies to standardize their environmental, social and governance disclosure to help them in their investment decision-making and better assess and manage their risks. Together, the eight fund managers oversee a total of about $1.6 trillion in assets and are committing to strengthening ESG disclosure within […]
Men are picking up jobs at more than three-times the rate that women are leaving the workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by the Royal Bank of Canada. The report found more than 20,000 women left the workforce between February and October, while about 68,000 men joined it, with the pandemic and […]
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is asking the federal government to hold Canada Pension Plan premiums at current levels next year when they’re scheduled to rise, as employers and employees struggle with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to the organization, approximately one third of small businesses are currently losing money and higher payroll taxes […]
The first cabinet meeting of 2016 kicked off yesterday, and it’s expected the Liberal party will focus on where the Canadian economy is headed in the coming year. The three-day retreat in New Brunswick will help set the party’s overarching goals for 2016. It will also help lay the strategy the Liberals will use to […]