September 2021
29Sep

Canada’s second-largest pension fund says first to exit oil assets

Canada’s No. 2 pension fund, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, said Tuesday it will shed all of its oil production assets, valued at C$3.9 billion ($3.08 billion), by the end of 2022 and reduce carbon intensity by 60% by 2030. It said it would be the first institutional investor in Canada to exit oil production assets. As part of a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Montreal-based Caisse plans to hold green assets worth C$54 billion by 2025...

September 29, 2021
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17Sep

Canada’s third-largest pension fund beefs ups plan to cut carbon emissions

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP), Canada’s third-largest pension fund, announced on Thursday new interim targets to cut the carbon emissions intensity of its portfolio as part of a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. OTPP, which manages C$227.7 billion ($180.11 billion) in assets, plans to reduce emissions intensity by 45% by 2025 and 67% by 2030, from 2019 levels. Fellow pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec also has a net-zero target by 2050, but environmental campaigners...

September 17, 2021
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03Sep

Do Trade Unions Promote Age Diversity and Intergenerational Solidarity in the Workplace? A View from Canada and Israel

By Pnina Alon-Shenker, Lilach Lurie In this Article, the authors explore – through a survey of collective agreements, case law, unions’ constitutions and websites – how trade unions in Canada and Israel balance and effectively support the interests of older and young workers. While unions in both countries promote age diversity to some extent (Canadian unions more than Israeli unions), they do not take sufficient action to promote intergenerational solidarity and sometimes even inhibit solidarity between generations. The authors conclude...

September 3, 2021
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August 2021
27Aug

Canada. Union Files Legal Challenge Over OMERS’ Early Retirement Policy

A Canadian union has filed a legal challenge with Ontario’s independent pension regulator over the $82.4 billion Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS)’s policy for paramedic plan members’ access to early retirement options. According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), OMERS has two classifications for its members: normal retirement age 65 (NRA 65) and normal retirement age 60 (NRA 60). NRA 65 members can retire with an unreduced pension at the age of 65 at the earliest, or...

August 27, 2021
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16Aug

3 Ugly Truths About Retirement in Canada

Saving for retirement has never been easy. In the days when private and public sector employers offered generous defined benefit (DB) pensions, that didn’t matter as much. But today, with private sector DB pensions all but extinct, you really have to save if you want to retire comfortably. If you’re a government worker with a very generous pension plan, then perhaps that doesn’t apply to you. But if you’re like most Canadians, you’re really going to need some savings to...

August 16, 2021
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July 2021
22Jul

Canada. 27% of homeowners planning to access pension early despite adequacy fears

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of homeowners over 40 plan to work beyond state pension age due to concerns over affordability and financial insecurity, whilst over a quarter (27 per cent) plan to access their pensions early, according to research from Canada Life. The survey found that many older savers had fears around funding their retirement, with close to a third (31 per cent) of homeowners over 40 who are currently working stating that they cannot afford to retire...

July 22, 2021
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13Jul

Canadian green bond market riding high after record quarter

Canadian companies issued a record amount of green bonds in the second quarter, and bankers expect the debt instrument will become more popular because issuers are able to charge a premium that environmentally-friendly investors are willing to pay. With corporations and financial institutions facing growing pressure from investors to embrace more environmentally-sustainable practices, green bonds are seen by some as one way to work towards the transition to a clean energy future. One of the reasons they are catching on in...

July 13, 2021
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06Jul

Canadian pensions raise stakes in Apac real estate

Asia Pacific now accounts for about a quarter of outbound allocations by Canadian investors, up from just 10% between 2015 and 2019, according to a June 21 report by Real Capital Analytics (RCA) – and much of that outflow has been captured in regional real estate. This is part of an overall trend of Canadian investors diverting their attention outside North America, with around half of outbound allocations leaving the continent since 2020. “Five of the top eight Canadian investors in...

July 6, 2021
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June 2021
23Jun

Canada. New CPPIB Head Graham Says Inflation Will Stay Muted in Long Run

Strong demand, particularly from the U.S. consumer, may fuel higher inflation in the short term, but there is little risk of runaway price growth, according to the head of Canada’s $403 billion national pension fund. “It’s going to be really interesting over the next few months. We have a really high savings rate in the U.S., high savings rate in Canada, and really a lot of pent-up demand,” John Graham, chief executive officer of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said...

June 23, 2021
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18Jun

Canada. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board Gains 18.4% in FY2021

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) on Wednesday reported that it gained 18.4% in its most recent fiscal year ending in March, thanks to the recovery in the capital markets after the downturn last year. The Canadian allocator, based in Ottawa, grew to C$204.5 billion (US$166.6 billion) in net assets under management, up 20.4% from C$169.8 billion from the prior fiscal year, the fund disclosed. This past fiscal year wasn’t an easy one, the fund’s top official reflected. “Our...

June 18, 2021
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