What’s behind the retreat in responsible investing? + MORE Oct 15th

At 7.1%, Canada’s unemployment rate is the highest it has been in four years and people in a variety of sectors have been feeling the pinch. A job loss is difficult for a lot of reasons. On top of the personal feeling of rejection, there can be many decisions to make involving legal, tax, insurance, investment, and cash-flow matters. Here is a rundown. 

Statutory vs. common-law severance

In every province and territory, there are statutory minimum payments that you are entitled to receive as an employee whose employment is terminated. This is called termination pay. This generally applies after three months of continuous employment and is meant to provide a safety net after you are let go without cause. Termination pay is generally a certain number of weeks of salary per year of service up to a maximum. 

Beyond this minimum payment, employers may also offer severance pay. This compensation is beyond the statutory minimum and based on common-law entitlements—basically, what you might get if you went to court…

Socially responsible investing is down but not out in Canada, a new survey of investment advisors by the Responsible Investment Association (RIA) has found. Just under two-thirds of advisors (64%) report using responsible investing (RI) approaches and investments, down from 73% in 2023. But the share of assets allocated to RI investments is holding firm at 13% and three-quarters of the 300 respondents to the survey expected growth in RI over the next two years.

The decline in RI usage was driven by fewer new advisors offering RI to clients, the 2025 Advisor RI Insights Study said. The proportion of clients using a responsible methodology was roughly steady at 18%, however, compared to 19% recorded two years ago. Increasingly, it is clients initiating conversations about responsible strategies (41%) over advisors (28%). Still, nearly half of advisors (46%) agree that questions about RI should be included in Know Your Client forms used with new clients.

“While adoption has steadied, investor demand for RI remains strong and advisors remain open to closing the service gap,” Patricia Fletcher, CEO of the RIA, said in a release…