Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | August 27, 2020 The federal government is seeking applications to appoint new full- and part-time members to its social security tribunal, the arm’s length entity responsible for decisions on appeals relating to Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance and old-age security. Members of the SST’s general division operate as first-level decision-makers and are tasked with providing fair hearing and decisions on these appeals. “I look forward to welcoming well-qualified and diverse applicants from communities across Canada to the member positions on the social security tribunal,” said Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough, in a press release. Read: Feds update appeals process for EI, CPP and OAS “SST members are integral to ensuring the country’s most vulnerable Canadians can benefit from an efficient, fair and transparent appeals process. Their decisions are vital to the economic security and well-being of those Canadians who appeal to them, many of whom face significant challenges in accessing justice.” Full-time member appointments last five years while part-time appointments are for two years. Applications close Sept. 18, 2020. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff  | August 27, 2020 Janitors working at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont. have a new ratified contract that includes a pension plan, sick days and a wage increase. The employees, represented by the Services Employees International Union Local 2 and working for the food services company Compass Group Canada Ltd., entered bargaining with major concerns around the lack of sick days and low wages, according to a press release from the union. Previously, they had no employer-provided sick days, only those provided by the province. Under the new agreement, they have two sick days, which can also be used as personal days, wrote Assya Moustaqim-Barrette, the union’s communications coordinator, in an email to Benefits Canada. Read: Union agreement for legal aid workers includes vision care, sick leave In terms of the wage increase, employees were previously paid $14.75 an hour. The hourly rate will rise $0.25 an hour and will increase gradually year by year until it reaches $15.70/hour on Jan. 1, 2022. And, beginning on July 1, 2022, all eligible employees will be enrolled in the Multi-Sector Pension Plan, which was established in 2001 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the SEIU after the unions observed a lack of pension coverage in...

The Canadian Press | August 26, 2020 Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is appointing Mark Carney as vice-chair and head of environmental, social and governance and impact fund investing. Carney is currently the United Nations’ special envoy for climate action and finance, and was formerly governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. He has long advocated for action on climate change. Read: CPPIB and Brookfield compete to acquire Australian company In the new role, he’ll work on the development of a group of funds that will combine positive social and environmental outcomes with strong risk-adjusted returns, according to Brookfield. “Building on our track record in renewable investing, Mark will help accelerate our efforts to combine better long-term outcomes for society with strong risk-adjusted returns,” said Bruce Flatt, the investment manager’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “Mark’s insights and perspectives will add tremendous value to our global investing activities for the benefit of our investors.” Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff  | August 26, 2020 The Empire Life Insurance Co. is adding telemedicine services to its group benefits plans. Beginning Sept. 1, 2020, all employees whose plan sponsors offer Empire Life’s group benefits will automatically have access to the new service, provided by Teladoc Health. “Nearly two in five Canadians say they have faced COVID-related barriers to medical care,” said Vanessa Lycos, vice-president of group product and marketing, in a press release, referring to an Angus Reid survey conducted in May 2020. Read: Canadians cite 91% satisfaction rate with virtual health care “With telemedicine, talking to a doctor is safe, simple, fast and easy — any time of the day or night, 365 days a year. And with no travel time or time in the waiting room, it may also help reduce absenteeism, which is a growing problem for employers.” Empire Life already provides other Teladoc Health services including its Best Doctors expert medical services, which it added in 2018, and its mental-health navigator service, added earlier in 2020. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

By Stephen Applebaum, Insurance Solutions Group — This is a companion article to “Working-from-Home: Infecting People and Organizations in Insurance,” published on Aug. 17. As if our lives and the world in which we find ourselves aren’t confusing enough, for those of us working in the insurance industry ecosystem there are also less obvious threats that we should understand clearly in order to plan and succeed in an uncertain future. There is a general perception that the insurance industry is doing surprisingly well in the face of a global pandemic. It’s true that the redeployment of thousands of employees from physical offices to work-from-home was accomplished very quickly and with minimal loss of productivity or gaps in customer service. It is also true that insurers, specifically auto insurers, have enjoyed an earnings windfall from the dramatic and sudden drop-off in vehicle use and the accompanying reduction in auto claims (even after premium reductions). And so, one might also conclude that industry innovation and transformation continues apace – but that’s only partially correct. The Twin Realities A closer examination of the evidence reveals that there are actually two extremely different states existing within the insurance ecosystem, essentially comprised of the larger,...

$6.5 million Series A funding co-led by Real Ventures & Investissement Québec, plus $5 million in debt financing and grants led by National Bank of Canada Montreal, QC (Aug. 26, 2020) – Breathe Life, the enterprise SaaS platform provider for the life insurance industry, is pleased to announce it has secured an additional $11.5 million CAD in funding to enhance its digital distribution platform for insurance carriers. The $6.5 million Series A was co-led by Real Ventures & Investissement Québec with participation from Clocktower Technology Ventures, Cameron Ventures, Desjardins, NAventures, and Diagram Ventures. The remaining $5 million is made up of a $4.2 million debt financing from National Bank of Canada’s Technology and Innovation Banking Group and various government grants. Breathe Life provides insurers a modern digital platform for the distribution of life insurance products that increases sales and speed of policy delivery while reducing operational costs. Breathe Life enables carriers to quickly deliver a fully-branded, user-centric experience that streamlines the online buying process for consumers. This “ease of engagement” is especially important as carriers continue to navigate the global coronavirus pandemic, which has largely eliminated traditional face-to-face sales and paper-based distribution processes. “In our current global context there is...

Staff  | August 26, 2020 Quebecers are more likely to start taking benefits from the Quebec Pension Plan at age 60 than other Canadians with their Canada Pension Plan benefits, according to a new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy. While deferring benefits is financially advantageous for some, the study found it might be prudent for single people and lower-wage earners to take their benefits right away. In April 2019, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries proposed the government raise the eligibility for CPP and QPP benefits from age 60 to 62, as long as the pension provided to the 62-year-old would be the same as under the current system. It suggested the change would enhance the financial security of retirees and encourage people to retire later, alleviating anticipated labour shortages. Read: New report calls for updated retirement age to reflect reality of today’s workforce The IRPP report also noted that raising the eligibility age would have the intended positive effect on most household incomes, but not on all. “Leaving aside the possibility of receiving social assistance, more than half of 60-year-old Quebecers would benefit from raising the eligibility age. Overall, the average gain — in after-tax, present value terms calculated at age 60...

Chris Gandy Many white advisors may have never asked a Black advisor what it’s like to be a minority in the industry. So Chris Gandy told them what it’s like. Gandy is president and founder of Midwest Legacy Group in Chicago and president of NAIFA-Chicagoland. He spoke on “The Disparity And Opportunities,” an online discussion of diversity and inclusion, part of a series of online sessions by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Gandy’s presentation wove his experience in the financial services industry with the current COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest in the nation. When Gandy entered the industry in 1999, he was coming off a short stint playing pro basketball in France and looking forward to life off the court. But he was the only Black advisor in his training class of 10, and found his unique set of challenges getting started. One big challenge was that his natural market, the Black community where he lived, did not have a lot of money. Another challenge was being told in his training class that he wouldn’t make it in the business because “your people don’t buy life insurance, they don’t understand it and they definitely don’t keep it...

How should investors react to stock-market volatility like what the COVID-19 outbreak has caused? Since the deep and drastic downturn in equity markets during the first quarter, we’ve seen a diversity of responses. On one hand, there are the retail investors who have flocked to online brokerages, with many taking on outsized bullish positions that might not stand up to rigorous fundamental analysis. On the other hand, you have the more conservative crowd who are cashing out and, in some cases, getting more exposure to haven assets like gold. But as noted by Selene Soo, director of Wealth Insurance at RBC Insurance, it’s often best to take a Buddhist-like approach. To be more specific, an equity investor who takes the middle path, succumbing to neither fear nor greed in the midst of uncertainty, is likely to enjoy gains in the long term. “During times of heightened volatility, making changes to investment plans might not be the best idea,” Soo told Life and Health Professional. “I think it’s important for investors to stay the course and really stick to the plan that they prepared with their advisor.” She acknowledged that market downturns, like the one we saw during the worst of...

Canada Life is backing a new initiative that aims to support good mental health among Canadian workers as they deal with the realities of COVID-19. Through the newly launched Break Box initiative, 285 businesses and not-for-profits – including organizations that Canada Life works with year-round – will be receiving boxes of “thoughtfully designed, practical and educational resources” to aid in promoting good mental health at work and at home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery. The kits are to be prepared and sent in collaboration with Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, a leading source of free and practical tools and resources to deal with workplace mental-health issues, as well as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. ‘ “Many Canadians are facing stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic and re-opening efforts,” said Mary Ann Bayton, director of Collaboration and Strategy, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. “Whether people are working from home or adjusting to a new work environment, taking a break can help support mental well-being by improving focus, decision-making, information retention and creativity.” To disrupt the rut of today’s digital reality, the organization said it deliberately chose to distribute physical, tangible boxes of resources to Chamber of Commerce members and not-for-profits....