News

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many workplaces from bustling offices with shared work spaces to remote, telecommuting networks. Employees around the world now find themselves working in isolation away from the familiarity of their colleagues and their workplace. This unplanned, but profound, shift in job design can have detrimental effects on employee engagement.

Philanthropy is an incredibly personal decision and Sheilaah Guthrie, the Associate Director of Advancement at SAF believes valuable networking opportunities and donations warrant in-person interactions. However, what do you do when that option is no longer possible or even safe?

The CAAA Award Committees are pleased to recognize these outstanding recipients who embody the values and mission of the Association: innovators who are committed to promoting and encouraging excellence in education and research in our field.

As we cannot celebrate our winners' achievements in person this year, we will be very happy to do so when we can be together again - at the Awards and Recognition Brunch of the 2021 CAAA Annual Conference in Quebec City.

Experienced face-to-face lecturers preparing to teach online, where they won’t have the benefit of reading body language and will have to battle new obstacles, such as Zoom fatigue

The economic impact of COVID-19 continues to be a global issue for people and businesses everywhere. Many in our community are wondering how the shutdown of our economy will affect their long-term financial goals.

James Thompson is a Waterloo professor in the School of Accounting and Finance. On Wednesday, May 27, he joined us for this week’s Ask our Experts community talk to discuss retirement planning in the time of COVID-19, as well as answer your questions about personal finance.

We asked Tracy Hilpert, Director of the School of Accounting and Finance’s Financial Literacy in the Classroom initiative, what you should be considering when managing your finances during the pandemic.

Canadians across the country are facing a difficult and unforeseen financial hurdles that have many worried. In fact, research by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada back in 2018 stated that 48 per cent of Canadians said they had lost sleep because of financial worries — something that has only been exacerbated with layoffs, social-distancing and illness within the last few months.

They say the friends you make in university will be friendships that will last a lifetime — and the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) isn’t letting anything (not even COVID-19) come between that.

Integrated within the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM), Math/CPA and Biotech/CPA programs is an experiential learning initiative called “2YEx” (the two-year experience). The goal of 2YEx is to inspire engaged learners that support each other while honing their collaboration and teamwork skills.

It seems that nearly every segment of the population has received some form of COVID-19 government assistance. There’s the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which provides $2,000 monthly to individuals who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19. Businesses and not-for-profits may be eligible for the Canada Emergency Business Account, which provides interest-free loans of up to $40,000 (with 25 per cent potentially forgivable), along with two, separate wage subsidy programs. Students will soon receive the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, which is generally $1,250 per month for four months. But so far, the only relief offered to investors, which only applies to some, is a 25 per cent reduction in the minimum required RRIF withdrawal for 2020.

Among the many significant impacts of the recent crisis is the effect on individual pensions. Retirees are heavily dependent on other pension funds or savings as the average social security benefit is only $1500 per month. Pensions can come in many forms such as 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, defined benefit, and defined contribution.