Canadian HR Reporter

www.hrreporter.com 23 After a brief phase-in period, member pension contributions will be fixed at six per cent of income, matched by the employer. Once fixed, the contribution rate can never change, regardless of the funded status of the plan. "This move has allowed us to improve the pension plan we offer to our employees, helping ensure long-term, sustainable and secure retirement savings," says Rahima Mamdani, vice president of people and culture at the United Way. SHARE Employers that are relatively small have also joined CAAT. Fourteen employees at SHARE (Shareholder pension benefits was also attractive to us. With our pension benefits now b e i n g a d m i n i s t e r e d b y C A AT, management has more time to focus on our core business," says DeMarchi. United Way of Greater Toronto Looking to improve its pension plan, the United Way of Greater Toronto merged its single employer pension plan with CAAT in 2019. The non-profit organization's more than 200 employees voted 99 per cent in favour of joining. United Way employees earn a defined benefit pension through CAAT's DBplus going forward, while pensions earned to the date of the merger are replicated and administered by CAAT. A s s o c i a t i o n f o r R e s e a r c h a n d Education) led the search for a new retirement savings program. The employer was already contributing five per cent of base earning to employees' RRSP of choice, but it felt it was impossible to access pension plans that were generally only available to larger o r g a n i z a t i o n s . D B p l u s a l l o w e d employees to "trade up" to a secure and valuable defined benefit pension at no additional cost to SHARE. "SHARE advocates for expansion of retirement benefits for all Canadian workers, but our own non-profit sector has historically been particularly disadvantaged in providing stable retirement options for employees," says Derek W. Dobson is CEO of the CAAT Pension Plan in Toronto. For more information, visit www.dbplus.ca. CANADIANS LOOKING FOR HELP WITH PENSIONS Sources: Robert Half, Canada Life, Expedia 4 in 5 Number of U.S. and Canadian workers and retirees with pension plans who said the availability of pension benefits is a critical factor in deciding whether or not to accept a job 73% Number of respondents who said they stayed with an employer due to pension benefits 82% Number of respondents who said they want more help with retirement planning 84% Number of respondents who said they would like retirement coaching Kevin Thomas, CEO of SHARE in Toronto. "[The DB Plus plan] gave us the opportunity to offer a secure pension promise for SHARE staff that builds on our own commitment to a sustainable, unionized, living-wage workplace." SHARE has offices in Vancouver and Toronto, and it works with a growing network of institutional investors, helping them to develop and implement responsible investment p o licies a n d p ra c tices. C A AT 's responsible investing policies and approach are aligned with SHARE's organizational focus, specifically, an emphasis on proxy voting, corporate engagement and encouraging the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the investment process. "DBplus is sustainable and portable, and CAAT's own advocacy for defined- benefit pensions in Canada is aligned with our values as an organization," says Thomas. CHRR

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