Alberta’s Fair Deal panel is recommending that the provincial government withdraws from the Canada Pension Plan and creates its own, subject to a referendum. “The panel recommends vigorously exploring this option and conducting the due diligence needed to assure Albertans that benefits and risks are understood and can be positively managed,” wrote the panel. “Albertans will […]
As you’ll read in this issue’s cover story, our 2020 CAP Member Survey was fielded at the end of March and early April, targeting respondents as they were beginning to face the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. While we still asked our annual questions about capital accumulation plan members’ retirement readiness, we also wanted […]
As if preparing for retirement wasn’t already a steep challenge, along comes the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, throwing up even more obstacles for capital accumulation plan members to maneuver. This year’s annual CAP Member Survey, supported by Actuarial Solutions Inc. and Morneau Shepell Ltd., fielded its questions between March 30 […]
A new paper is evaluating how global retirement systems are faring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and what reforms will be required to facilitate the retirements of future generations. The paper, ‘Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic,’ by Olivia Mitchell, a professor and executive director of the pension research council […]
Canada’s pension regulations have been designed to govern defined benefit plans and are a bad fit for target-benefit and multi-employer pension plans, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report, authored by Barry Gros, a retired actuary and chair of the University of British Columbia staff pension plan, argued that the […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management’s Alberta regional council is highlighting the need for “made-in-Alberta” measures focused on pension plan sponsors, administrators and members due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a submission to the provincial government, the council listed recommendations around pension contributions and funding, commuted values, plan administration, defined contribution […]
While the coronavirus pandemic certainly doesn’t change pension plan sponsors’ fundamental fiduciary duty to their plan members, the crisis is creating circumstances that will test how that responsibility manifests. Fiduciary duty arises when one party has a certain vulnerability in respect to another party, said Kenneth Burns, partner at Lawson Lundell LLP, in a webinar roundtable hosted by the […]
A retiree whose retirement savings are primarily in a registered savings plan, such as a life income fund or registered retirement income fund, already faces a number of risks and challenges during their retirement years. But a significant financial market correction highlights one of these challenges — how much income should be withdrawn from the […]
Canadian pension rules and regulations are in need of reform in order to properly address the reality of the 21st century workplace pension landscape, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report, authored by Bob Baldwin, a pension industry veteran and chair of the C.D. Howe’s pension policy council, argued that the […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is relaxing its freeze on portability transfers to automatically permit pension plan members who are eligible for early retirement to transfer their commuted values to locked-in savings vehicles, subject to certain conditions. At the end of March, the OSFI introduced a temporary freeze on portability transfers, meaning […]