This program is created in partnership with:
Navigate the Complexities of Pension & Retirement Savings with Confidence. Pensions and retirement savings plans are a critical part of employee compensation but managing them has become increasingly complex. Longer life expectancies, shifting workforce demographics, evolving pension laws, and regulatory changes have made plan administration more challenging than ever. HR professionals must now understand not just the legal and financial aspects of pension plans but also how to optimize them for both employees and employers. This certificate program provides a comprehensive, practical guide to pension and retirement plan management, helping HR professionals ensure compliance, mitigate risk, and enhance the value of their benefits programs.
Why This Course Matters for HR Professionals
- Ensure Legal & Regulatory Compliance – Understand the complex legal framework governing pensions and retirement savings.
- Optimize Plan Administration – Learn best practices to manage plans efficiently, cost-effectively, and with minimal risk.
- Reduce Liability & Protect Your Organization – Gain strategies to mitigate risk in plan design and administration.
- Enhance Employee Financial Well-Being – Develop more effective pension and savings programs that align with workforce needs.
Who Should Attend?
- HR professionals responsible for employee benefits, pension plans, and retirement savings programs.
- Managers & business leaders involved in compensation and benefits decision-making.
- HR specialists looking to expand their expertise in pension plan management.
What You’ll Learn
- Module 1 – Plan Overview & Statutory Requirements
Intro to DB, DC, and other registered plans; compliance with pension and tax registration requirements, including T4 reporting and pension adjustments. - Module 2 – Defined Benefit Plans: Key Concepts
Covers DB funding, investment rules (30%/10%), actuarial valuations, SIPPs, and ITA limits. - Module 3 – Defined Contribution Plans: Key Concepts
Explores DC investment options, service providers, default funds, fees, and ITA contribution limits. - Module 4 – Investment Concepts for DB & DC Plans
Understanding investment managers, alternatives, and current global and Canadian trends. - Module 5 – Communications & Record Keeping Best Practices
Effective strategies for plan communication and documentation, including post-COVID considerations. - Module 6 – Admin Guidelines for Life Events
Handling key events: beneficiary updates, leaves, separations, equalization payments, and bankruptcy. - Module 7 – Transitioning to Retirement
Guidance on addressing retirement gaps, decumulation strategies, and improving member outcomes. - Module 8 – Governance & Risk Management
Plan governance principles, risk mitigation, and best practices for sustainable plan oversight.
Detailed Agenda of the Program
This live virtual certificate program includes interactive learning through case studies, group work, and simulations. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory, and recordings will not be available. To receive a certificate, participants must complete a short online assessment after each module.
- Live Virtual Sessions: There will be online instructor-led modules, during which practical examples and experiences will be shared.
- Materials: Participants will be provided with session workbooks to follow along with the content covered in each module and to take notes, as well as additional pre-session readings and post-session assignments.
- Peer Learning and Group Work: Participants will have the opportunity to learn from each other while answering questions and sharing experiences and observations during the modules, as well as through practical, hands-on exercises and simulations based on real-world labour relations events and processes.
- Time Commitment:This four-day certificate program will be delivered in eight modules. Participants will spend four (4.5) hours each day participating in the virtual sessions and accompanying exercises and simulation activities. Over the duration of the course, participants can expect to spend an additional five (5) hours completing offline independent work (outside of the daily sessions). The in-class virtual modules will be held as follows:
Day 1
- Intro/Welcome – (9:30 am – 10:00 am)
- Module 1 – (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Module 2 – (2:00 pm – 4:30 pm)
Day 2
- Module 3 – (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Module 4 – (2:00 pm – 4:30 pm)
Day 3
- Module 5 – (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Module 6 – (2:00 pm – 4:00 pm)
Day 4
- Module 7 – (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Module 8 – (2:00 pm – 4:00 pm)
Note
Registration Difficulties/Questions: Please reach out to the Professional Development team at Professionaldevelopment@hrpa.ca
For more information please Call the Toll-free number: 888 788-3185 Choose 1 for Region, then Ext. 3email ontario@cpbi-icra.ca