2015 CPBI Regional Volunteer of the Year Award Recipients
The CPBI’s extensive calendar of events and library of resources are possible thanks to its many dedicated volunteers located throughout the CPBI’s eight Regions across Canada.On behalf of the CPBI Board of Directors, Regional Councils and National Office, we would like to congratulate and thank the following volunteers for their involvement and contribution to the Institute: 
Level Chan
CPBI Atlantic Region
Stewart McKelvey LLP
Level Chan is a partner at Stewart McKelvey in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He advises pension and benefits plan sponsors and administrators, and has worked for many of the largest plans in Atlantic Canada, in areas including amendment, fiduciary duties, investment, governance and corporate restructuring. He regularly advises on administration of pension plans, including communications, spousal benefits and termination of employment.
A CPBI member since 2004 and presently serving in his sixth term on the CPBI Atlantic Regional Council, Level has been an active and keen supporter of the Atlantic region. He has served in many capacities on Council: Vice-Chair, Chairperson and currently, Past-Chair. He co-chaired the Atlantic Regional Conference in 2011 and 2012 and has been a strong contributor to developing programming for the region. Prior to being on Council, Level spoke as a leading legal professional on pensions and benefits issues at CPBI events
Natasha Monkman
CPBI Ontario Region
Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP
Natasha Monkman is an associate in Hicks Morley's Pension, Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group. Prior to articling with the firm, Natasha received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Mount Allison University in political science and her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School. Natasha advises both public and private sector clients regarding plan interpretation, administration and governance, and regularly advises clients regarding member communications and beneficiary issues, such as pension division on marriage breakdown and death benefit entitlements. Natasha has significant experience advising both provincially and federally regulated employers and pension plan administrators. Natasha also assists clients with reviewing and drafting contracts for a variety of compensation issues. Natasha has also assisted several clients undergoing significant restructuring and regularly provides advice regarding plan funding issues.
Natasha Monkman has served on the CPBI Ontario Regional Council since 2011. She has provided outstanding support to the Ontario Region, serving on many volunteer committees and Chairing this year's Program and Conference Committee. In doing so, she is helping the Ontario Region achieve its goal of providing outstanding educational content to its members. Congratulations Natasha!
Tyler Smith
CPBI Manitoba Region
Consulting Actuary, Benchmark Decisions Ltd.
Tyler Smith is Consulting Actuary with Benchmark Decisions Ltd., one of the PBAS Group of Companies in Winnipeg. He works with multi-employer plans on the design, funding and administration of their retirement plans. Tyler also advises clients on non-pension benefits such as long-term disability plans.
Prior to joining Benchmark Decisions Ltd., Tyler most recently led the retirement practice for the Winnipeg office of a large global consulting firm and has 15 years working in a variety of roles within the consulting industry. He has consulting experience in the design and implementation of registered retirement plans, plan redesigns, investments and plan governance.
Tyler has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba. Tyler is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. He is the current Chair for the Manitoba Region Council of the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute and has been a speaker and instructor for the International Foundation and CPBI. Tyler sits on a variety of charitable committees including the Amadeus Steen Foundation and the Board of Arcane Horizon Inc., a non-profit that supports individuals with disabilities.
CPBI Volunteer Highlights:
- Chair of CPBI Manitoba
- Vice-Chair of CPBI Manitoba
- Led the Fundamentals committee 3 times
- Member of the Program Committee.
Bob Wilhelms
CPBI Saskatchewan Region
Senior Account Executive, Saskatchewan Blue Cross
Bob is a Senior Account Executive for Saskatchewan Blue Cross. Prior to joining Blue Cross, Bob was a Labor Relations Advisor for the City of Regina. He also serves on the Blue Cross Life Advisory Board, held the role of Chairperson for the Regina Civic Employees Pension and Benefits Committee, and was both the Vice Chair and Chair of the Administrative Board for the Regina Civic Employees Superannuation & Benefits Plan. Bob is a respected professional within the industry and a leader in the community. His other passions include spending time with family, golf, home renovations, travel and supporting his beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders. Bob is also an active volunteer for the MS Society.
Bob joined CPBI Saskatchewan Regional Council in 2005. For the past 10 years, Bob's contributions have been an integral part of the growth and success Saskatchewan Region has experienced. Bob has served our Council as Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and as our National Board Representative for 4 years. Bob was the very first Chair of the Saskatchewan Regional Conference in 2011, an event which laid the foundation for our renowned annual event. In addition, Bob has served on multiple committees both in Saskatchewan Region and at the National Level. He is always willing to be our MC, or take on any task that needs to be done to make a CPBI event a success. Bob has truly made an impact in our Region, but is known across Canada for his jovial presence and for always representing Saskatchewan with passion and pride.
Karen Hall, R.F.P., CFP, B.Sc.
CPBI Southern Alberta Region
Vice President, T. E. Wealth
As T.E. Wealth’s Vice President of Financial Education and Employer Services, Karen is responsible for designing and implementing comprehensive financial education services that are uniquely suited to employees at many of Canada’s largest companies.
Working in collaboration with HR professionals, Karen uses multiple delivery channels in providing financial and retirement planning seminars, webinars on company investment choices, individual retirement plans and financial counsel sessions. Karen leads of team of planners in the day-to-day design and implementation of these programs across Canada.
Karen is frequently asked by clients to help them design strategic programs that meet their pension governance obligations and fiduciary responsibilities in ways that attract and retain talent and encourage employees to make effective use of their retirement savings programs.
Karen has national responsibilities in ensuring that T.E. Wealth continues to provide a high level of standardized education services across the country. She travels extensively to deliver education services to remote locations, and is based out of T.E.’s Calgary office.
Karen brings more than fifteen years of training, financial education program development and consulting experience to her role. Karen has both the Registered Financial Planner (R.F.P.) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. She is a long-term member of the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners, Financial Planning Standards Council and the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute where she a council member of the Southern Alberta chapter. Karen has a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Calgary.
Tom O'Reilly
CPBI Northern Alberta Region
Associate, Field Law
Tom has been a registered Trade Mark Agent since 1992, and assists clients with all legal aspects of registering, protecting, and licensing trade-marks, copyright and other intellectual property, including related contractual and internet rights.
Tom's experience includes more than 15 years of advising local, regional, national and international clients on a wide variety of intellectual property and commercial litigation matters, including trade-mark, copyright, domain name and confidential information infringement claims, contract disputes, franchise issues, injunctions, and seizure of electronic evidence.
Tom obtained the first website injunction order in Canada in August 1997, and has also been successful in recovering domain names through the ICANN domain name dispute process.
Tom volunteered for the Alberta North Board in 2009 and took on the role of secretary in 2011. Tom's legal advice was welcomed and he assisted the executive with several challenges including contracts and navigating the new conflict of interest and code of interest policy. Tom resigned in 2014 and his witty contributions are missed.
Karen Tompkins
CPBI Pacific Region
Account Executive at Manulife Financial
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