CBC employees will see a small decrease in their Long Term Disability premiums this fall. The Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits has approved a two-year contract renewal with Great West Life that will see premiums decrease slightly, from 1.55 per cent of basic salary to 1.50 per cent.  While it’s not a big drop, it is the first decrease in premiums that we have seen since 2008. At the end of April, 275 CBC employees were receiving LTD benefits, down from a peak of 307 at the end of 2010.

At the June meeting, the CCSB was briefed on the performance last year of both our Group RRSP and the CBC Pension Plan.

CBC employees have about $25 million dollars invested in the Group RRSP funds, and last year most of the current funds performed well against their respective benchmarks. We have a continuing concern that CBC employees don’t make better use of the Group RRSP funds, given that their management fees are significantly lower than what you’d pay on similar funds at a bank or other financial institution. Information on accessing the funds can be obtained through the CBC’s HR portal.

The CBC Pension Plan also had a relatively good year in 2012. It finished the year with $5.3 billion dollars in assets, more than enough to meet the pension promise on a continuing basis, which is what we’re most interested in. At the end of 2012 it had a going concern surplus of 124 per cent.

Like most defined benefit plans in the country, the CBC plan still shows a solvency deficit. It stands at 91 per cent, which is much healthier than other plans. This calculation assumes that the plan would be closed at a certain date (in this case Dec. 31, 2012).

The full reports on the pension plan can be read at the CBC Pension Plan site.

Two members of the CBC Branch Executive, Allan Gofenko and Chantal Payant, rounded out the CMG delegation to the June CCSB meeting as observers.

Your representatives,
Bob Fisher
Marc-Philippe Laurin
Barbara Saxberg
Jon Soper
Gabi Durocher
Glenn Gray
Dan Oldfield