Benefits Canada Magazine Names Annual Employees' Choice: Top 30 Pension and Benefits Plans List

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jun 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
When it comes to ranking human resources plans, the best judges are the
employees who use them. For that reason, employee feedback was used to
determine Benefits Canada magazine's third annual Employees' Choice: Top
30 Pension and Benefits Plans list, released today in the June issue of
the magazine (see attached list).

"The organizations that appear on the 2009 Top 30 Pension and Benefits
Plans list did not necessarily achieve this recognition because they
offer the most innovative or richest employee benefit programs," said
Alyssa Hodder, editor of Benefits Canada. "But they do provide benefits
that meet the needs of their employees and position them well in their
industry."

Employee opinion data related to benefits from more than 200 Canadian
organizations was used to determine the Top 30 list. Each candidate
participated in the 2009 Best Employers in Canada study, the 2009 Best
Small & Medium Employers in Canada study, or a custom employee engagement
study conducted by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting
and outsourcing company.

Neil Crawford, leader of Hewitt's Best Employers in Canada study,
explained that organizations that participate in any of these studies are
automatically considered for the Benefits Canada list. "Participants have
the potential to be recognized twice-once for high employee engagement
and once for high employee satisfaction with benefits."

The Benefits Canada article that accompanies this year's list zeroes in
on two key findings. "Even in tough economic times, many of the Top 30
are investing in programs designed to promote employee health and
wellness," stated Hodder. "However, feedback from employees, whether or
not their employer appears on this year's list, shows that employers
still have work to do to educate their staff about saving for retirement
and help them feel financially secure."

About Hewitt Associates

Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) provides leading organizations around the
world with expert human resources consulting and outsourcing solutions to
help them anticipate and solve their most complex benefits, talent, and
related financial challenges. Hewitt consults with companies to design
and implement a wide range of human resources, retirement, investment
management, health management, compensation, and talent management
strategies. As a leading outsourcing provider, Hewitt administers health
care, retirement, payroll, and other HR programs to millions of
employees, their families, and retirees. With a history of exceptional
client service since 1940, Hewitt has offices in 33 countries, including
Canadian offices in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Regina, and
employs approximately 23,000 associates who are helping make the world a
better place to work. For more information, please visit
www.hewitt.com/canada.

About Benefits Canada

Benefits Canada is the country's original and most influential pension
and benefits publication for key decision-makers in thousands of Canadian
workplaces. Senior finance executives, pension board trustees, benefits
professionals, HR managers and industry specialists have turned to the
magazine for more than 30 years to help make informed decisions about
their pension and benefits plans. Published monthly, Benefits Canada
provides award winning editorial content, including in-depth features,
exclusive industry reports, profiles of innovative plan sponsors, expert
analysis, critical statistical data, and a wide range of national and
international news and trends. Benefits Canada also publishes a daily
e-bulletin. For more information, visit www.benefitscanada.com.

Employees' Choice: Canada's Top 30 Pension and Benefits Plans for 2009

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Ranking Organization Headquarters
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1 L'Union Canadienne Quebec, QC
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2 Ontario Teachers' Insurance Plan Waterloo, ON
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3 JTI-Macdonald Corp. Mississauga, ON
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4 CONEXUS Regina, SK
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5 EllisDon Corporation London, ON
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6 Envision Financial Langley, BC
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7 Business Development Bank of Canada Montreal, QC
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8 AstraZeneca Canada Inc. Mississauga, ON
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9 The Co-operators Guelph, ON
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10 PCL Constructors Inc. Edmonton, AB
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11 Intuit Canada Mississauga, ON
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12 Farm Credit Canada Regina, SK
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13 GlaxoSmithKline Inc. Mississauga, ON
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14 Ceridian Canada Ltd. Mississauga, ON
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15 G&K Services Canada Inc. Mississauga, ON
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16 Stewart Weir Co. Ltd. Sherwood Park, AB
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17 BC Biomedical Laboratories Surrey, BC
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18 Flight Centre Canada Vancouver, BC
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19 Aecon Group Inc. Toronto, ON
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20 Co-operators Life Insurance Company Regina, SK
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21 OMERS Toronto, ON
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22 Bentall LP Toronto, ON
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23 TRANSLINK / CMBC / BCRTC Burnaby, BC
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24 Canadian Western Bank Edmonton, AB
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25 National Bank of Canada Montreal, QC
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26 Amex Canada Inc. Markham, ON
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27 Homes by Avi Calgary, AB
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28 Ivanhoe Cambridge Montreal, QC
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29 Edward Jones Mississauga, ON
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30 Nexen Inc. Calgary, AB
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Contacts:
Hewitt Associates
Marcia McDougall
(416) 227-5713
marcia.mcdougall@hewitt.com
www.hewitt.com/canada

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