Canadian pension funds total increases to $1.2 trillion: StatsCan • Employment up 51,000 in February: StatsCan • Canada moves to prevent double taxation • Pay premium for working dads? • Workers with DC pensions save too little: Report
Canadian pension funds total increases to $1.2 trillion: StatsCan
OTTAWA — The market value of Canadian employer-sponsored pension funds totalled $1.2 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2012, up 2.6 per cent from the previous quarter, according to Statistics Canada. The increase followed a 1.3 per cent decline in the second quarter.
Pension fund investments in stocks grew 3.3 per cent in the third quarter, surpassing the 1.5 per cent gain in the value of shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the same period.
Pension fund contributions fell eight per cent to $11.9 billion in the third quarter following similar drops of 7.6 per cent in the second quarter and 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Pension fund contributions typically peak in the fourth quarter of each year when pension plan sponsors make special payments to cover unfunded pension liabilities, said Statistics Canada.
Employment up 51,000 in February: StatsCan
OTTAWA — Employment rose by 51,000 in February following a slight decline the previous month, according to Statistics Canada. This increase was spread between full and part-time work. The unemployment rate remained at seven per cent as more people participated in the labour force.
Compared with 12 months earlier, employment grew by 1.9 per cent or 336,000, predominantly in full-time work. Over the same period, the total number of hours worked also increased by 1.9 per cent.
Provincially, employment increased in Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, while Manitoba saw a decline, said the Labour Force Survey.
Canada moves to prevent double taxation
OTTAWA — The federal government has introduced legislation that would prevent double taxation between Canada and six other countries. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the introduction of the Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013 on March 6.
The bill proposes to implement agreements concluded between Canada and Namibia, Serbia, Poland, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland for the avoidance of double taxation (where the same income is taxed by two countries) and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes, according to the Department of Finance.
The legislation would encourage cross-border trade and investment, and help fight international tax evasion, said Flaherty.
Pay premium for working dads?
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — When a man becomes a father, he is often granted a salary premium, providing certain circumstances are met, according to a recent study out of Harvard University.
“Married, biological fathers who live with their families” enjoy a four-per-cent salary increase — as long as a spouse is at home, the longitudinal survey data said. Fathers with a working spouse did not appear to have the same salary advantage, along with stepfathers, unmarried fathers and fathers who lived apart from their children.
Workers with DC pensions save too little: Report
PARIS (Reuters) — The decline in pension savings is gathering pace as defined contribution (DC) schemes replace final salary plans, meaning more workers in industrialized countries are not putting enough aside for retirement, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Workers contributing a total of 10 per cent to DC pension schemes for 40 years only have a 53 per cent chance of targeting 70 per cent of their final salary, said the OECD.
This decreases to 14 per cent if only five per cent is contributed for the same period. By comparison, there is an average contribution of 20 per cent into final salary pension plans.
Weak financial markets have accelerated the trend of lower contribution levels, while workers have little confidence in managing the risks of inflation, interest rate changes, investment and longevity themselves, the OECD said.
