{"id":591004,"date":"2026-07-17T20:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/591004\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:31:08","slug":"caat-governance-review-leads-to-changes-at-pension-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/591004\/","title":{"rendered":"CAAT governance review leads to changes at pension plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The CAAT Pension Plan has made changes to its governance procedures after a third-party review.Merle Robillard\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The CAAT Pension Plan is making changes to improve its governance over executive compensation, workplace relationships and succession planning after failures in the plan\u2019s oversight spurred an abrupt overhaul of its senior leadership earlier this year. <\/p>\n

In a letter to members and employers published on Friday, the board of trustees for the $25.4-billion pension plan said it made \u201cenhancements\u201d to its governance procedures after a third-party review, which began last December<\/a> and concluded earlier this year.<\/p>\n

CAAT did not release the full results of that review, which was led by Carol Hansell, the founder and senior partner of Hansell LLP. And the letter to members provides only a broad outline of the governance changes that have been implemented. <\/p>\n

CAAT hired Ms. Hansell after some of the plan\u2019s most senior executives, in a letter sent to trustees<\/a> in November, 2025, urged the board to investigate instances where they felt governance controls had broken down. <\/p>\n

Their concerns focused on the conduct of then-chief executive officer Derek Dobson. He had received a $1.6-million vacation payout<\/a> as compensation for unused time off that was at odds with internal policies. He was also having a personal relationship with a staff member for more than a year, with the board\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

After CAAT\u2019s board initially stood by Mr. Dobson, three of the plan\u2019s top executives left in January, with little explanation. After The Globe and Mail reported on internal tensions at CAAT, its board chair was ousted, its vice-chair resigned and Mr. Dobson left the plan as part of a settlement<\/a> that required him to repay the $1.6-million payout.<\/p>\n

CAAT is a multiemployer pension plan serving Ontario\u2019s colleges and more than 800 public- and private-sector employers with about 125,000 members. The Globe has been a participating employer since 2022.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s letter to CAAT members and employers says the board took steps to \u201cstrengthen its oversight\u201d of executive compensation, with improved transparency. CAAT\u2019s 2025 annual report includes a table that discloses total pay to the plan\u2019s senior executive team. But it does not reveal individual compensation levels as most other major Canadian pension plans have for years.<\/p>\n

The letter refers to \u201cplanned compensation disclosure\u201d for future years, without elaborating. In 2025, CAAT\u2019s top leaders were paid a combined $9.73-million, including the $1.6-million vacation payment that was later repaid in 2026. That compared with $7.65-million in 2024. <\/p>\n

CAAT\u2019s board also said it has \u201cupdated its workplace relationship policy\u201d to prohibit internal relationships involving the CEO or senior executives, regardless of whether there is a direct reporting line between the employees. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, CAAT initially said that Mr. Dobson\u2019s relationship with an employee was in \u201cfull compliance\u201d with policies that had been reviewed by external legal counsel. The board had planned to allow Mr. Dobson and the employee to stay in their roles, with measures in place that were intended to prevent conflicts of interest or the perception of favouritism.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the board said it has \u201caffirmed\u201d that CAAT\u2019s human-resources policies apply to all employees, regardless of their title or role, including those that relate to carrying over vacation days or claiming pay for unused days. <\/p>\n

Mr. Dobson received reimbursements for accumulated vacation days despite internal company guidelines<\/a> that stated vacation time must be used within one year after the year when it was earned, and capped payouts at five vacation days. Earlier this year, CAAT said the CEO had an employment contract that governed his pay and benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe clear, consistently applied policies will enhance accountability and fairness across the organization,\u201d trustees wrote in Friday\u2019s letter to members.<\/p>\n

CAAT\u2019s board is also \u201cstrengthening succession planning\u201d for board and committee leaders, the CEO and senior executives, the letter said. In June, CAAT started a search<\/a> for a permanent CEO, led by executive consulting firm Egon Zehnder. <\/p>\n

The plan is currently led by interim CEO and chief investment officer Kevin Fahey, who oversees a revamped leadership team. A new board chair and vice-chair were chosen from the existing group of trustees earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Finally, CAAT\u2019s board said it will \u201ccontinue to regularly review the skills and experiences of trustees to ensure the board maintains the expertise needed to meet its responsibilities and the regulatory expectations of the administrator of a pension plan of CAAT\u2019s size and complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board is divided between trustees appointed by the union that represents many college employees in Ontario, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), and the College Employer Council, which advocates on behalf of educational institutions. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, good governance only gets stronger through ongoing improvement,\u201d the board\u2019s letter said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The CAAT Pension Plan has made changes to its governance procedures after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[177],"tags":[79,18,19,17,27627,234,235],"class_list":["post-591004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nodelphi","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}