As students return to campuses and classes get underway, OCUFA will be working on a variety of initiatives important to professors and academic librarians. Here’s what to look out for in 2016-17: The Government of Ontario’s reform of the university funding model. For the past year and a half, the government has been examining ways […]
pensions
OCUFA welcomed the announcement on June 20 that Finance Ministers have reached an agreement on modest expansion to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). University professors and academic librarians have long supported the expansion of public pensions to provide dignity and a decent standard of life in retirement. A commitment to CPP expansion means that plans for an Ontario Retirement Pension Plan […]
From October 24-25, 2015, OCUFA’s Board of Directors met for its first meeting of the 2015-16 academic year. The focus was on setting priorities for the upcoming year and developing strategies for addressing the challenges facing professors and academic librarians in the months ahead. A key objective of the fall Board meeting is to identify […]
Last week, the Government of Ontario released details of the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) . They also unveiled a new website explaining – in broad strokes – how the plan will work . OCUFA was active in the consultations around the design of the ORPP, and made a formal submission to government on how the plan could benefit contract faculty. While we are working to confirm some key details, we do have some concerns […]
OCUFA has been working with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the regulatory framework that will guide asset and liability transfers between single employer pension plans (SEPPs) and jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs) in Ontario’s broader public sector meets the needs of faculty associations across the province. On February 27, 2015, we submitted a written response to the government’s […]
The Government of Ontario is undertaking public consultations about the design of the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. OCUFA will be submitting a brief and participating in the consultations, and we also encourage faculty associations to participate. Upcoming locations for in-person consultations include Markham, Brampton, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Etobicoke, Windsor, Woodstock and Stratford. These meetings […]
On January 20, 2015, the Ministry of Finance released draft pensions regulations governing the conversion of existing single employer pension plans (SEPPs) into Jointly Sponsored Pension Plans (JSPP). This release is important, as the regulations will have implications for OCUFA’s work on pension solutions in the university sector. OCUFA and the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) are currently engaged […]
On January 28, 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the creation of a Technical Advisory Group to advise the government on strengthening retirement security in Ontario. This follows last week’s appointment of Paul Martin as a special advisor on the creation of a provincial pension plan. The new advisory group will “advise the government on how to improve the retirement income system, including an Ontario-based alternative to a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) enhancement.” […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are welcoming the news that former Prime Minister Paul Martin will help develop a new Ontario Pension Plan. Martin’s appointment was announced yesterday by Premier Kathleen Wynne. “A consensus is building that that an enhanced public pension plan is a desirable solution to the growing retirement income security crisis for […]
Following the extension of solvency relief to some universities (those that have already qualified for Stage 2 relief), OCUFA has been active on many fronts of the pension file. Notable among these are consulting with government on draft regulations for transferring assets between plans; implementation of the Morneau report recommendations; and the pension coalition research project. A draft regulation has already been produced […]
On October 23rd, the Government of Ontario announced that it was giving universities and other broader public sector pensions plans an additional three years of help to put their pension plans on a sustainable track. Without this regulatory measure, a number of universities would have been required to put large amounts of additional money into their […]
Like many Ontario pension plans, some Ontario university pension plans currently have a funding shortfall, brought on in part by the financial crisis and almost 5 years of historically low interest rates. Problems with faculty pension plans existed before the financial crisis, but the fallout has worsened the situation. Unions and employers in the Ontario university […]
Bill Morneau, the Government of Ontario’s advisor on pooled asset pensions, has released his recommendations on how to combine the assets of Ontario’s smaller public pension plans, including those for university faculty. OCUFA is currently conducting a thorough analysis of his report, which we will make available on the OCUFA website soon. In the meantime, […]
Last weekend, the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray met with OCUFA’s Board of Directors during its October meeting. The Minister was questioned on his plans for higher education reform in Ontario, on the government’s agenda for university pension plans, and on public sector wage restraint. Overall, it was clear that the Minister has […]
These are challenging times for Ontario’s higher education sector. We are being challenged on three fronts: university pension plans, the government’s anti-labour push for wage restraint, and a reform plan that threatens institutional autonomy and academic freedom. OCUFA is working hard to monitor the latest developments and push back against government intrusion in higher education. […]