Target-Benefit Plans in Canada – An Innovation Worth Exploring

Canadian governments need to move beyond defined-benefit (DB) versus defined-contribution (DC) pension model debates, and towards a middle-ground option that incorporates attributes of both designs, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Target- Benefit Plans in Canada – An Innovation Worth Expanding,” authors Mel Bartlett, Angela Mazerolle, and Jana Steele call for the changing of pension standards  legislation to accommodate single-employer target-benefit plans (TBPs), which they feel combine elements of both DB and DC plans in a way that addresses the limitations of each.