As confirmed last week, the federal budget has restored the age of eligibility for old-age security to 65, a move some in the industry are questioning. The government proposed to cancel the provisions in the Old Age Security Act that increase the age of eligibility for old-age security and guaranteed income supplement benefits from 65 to 67 and […]
The Liberal government has announced it will launch a consultative process on the investment rule that restricts pension plans from holding more than 30 per cent of the voting shares of a company. According to the 2016 budget, announced on March 22, the public consultation on the usefulness of the 30-per-cent rule will begin “shortly.” Read: Scrapping pension […]
In its 2016 budget, the federal government proposed changes to the agreement powers of the Pension Benefits Standards Act. The changes, according to the budget document, would “broaden the scope of its ability to enter into bilateral agreements with provinces under the PBSA, which will better allow the federal and provincial governments to work together to […]
In its budget announcement on March 22, the government said it would provide $39 million over three years, starting in 2016-17, to the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. The aim is to support the foundation’s ongoing efforts to identify and introduce innovations in the health-care system. Read: National drug bulk-buying agreement should represent all Canadians “As […]
When the federal government presents its 2016 Budget on March 22, employers will be listening to hear more about the proposed changes to parental leave. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government said it would introduce more flexible parental benefits, which would allow working parents to receive benefits in smaller blocks of time over a period of […]
The federal government is widely expected to make good on its election promise to restore OAS eligibility to age 65 for all Canadians, giving clients under age 58 reason to celebrate. “Somebody that’s in their 50s […] can possibly retire two years sooner, and their monthly or bi-weekly savings might not have to be as […]
According to a recent Broadbent Institute study, “the value of retirement assets of those aged 55 to 64 without an employer pension is wholly inadequate.” Since this is particularly true for private-sector workers across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s young government has started to act, but the efforts fall short of what is urgently […]
The government could take on a $37.9 billion deficit and still maintain Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio, argues the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in its 2016 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). The think tank says the AFB would lift 1.1 million Canadians out of poverty, reduce income inequality, boost economic growth, and result in 520,000 new jobs, […]
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced the province’s 2016 budget on Thursday, outlining a range of developments of interest to employers and benefit plan sponsors, including: Additional information on the implementation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. The government plans to outline further legislation for the ORPP to be introduced in the spring. This legislation will focus […]
Ontario is introducing changes to the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, 2015 as well as other legislative pension amendments as part of its 2016 budget, which was unveiled on Thursday, Feb. 25. The goal of the PRPP changes is to “further facilitate harmonization with other jurisdictions and ensure the efficient operation of PRPPs,” according to […]