Atlantic Canada's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 36
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ATLANTIC CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2026)
NS Pension offers flexibility and strong values
W
hen Brendon
LeLievre,
senior manager
for business
development
at Nova Scotia Pension Services
Corporation (NS Pension), was
growing up in a small village in the
province, he wanted to help people
in his community plan not just for
their financial futures, but also
for periods of downtimes in their
industry.
“You’d see people earning a lot
of money but still not always prepared for retirement,” he explains.
“I’ve always had a firm belief
in strong retirement practices for
individuals,” he adds. He found
himself wondering: “How can I
help people with that?”
They want people
to succeed, they want
people to feel valued
and needed, and that
they can grow
here personally and
professionally.
— Brendon LeLievre
Senior Manager,
Business Development
So, when an opportunity arose
at NS Pension to introduce the
Public Service Superannuation
Plan (PSSP), one of the plans
administered by NS Pension, to
Nova Scotia employers beyond
provincial employees, including
public-sector employees at
municipalities, not-for-profits,
universities and the private sector,
Employees at Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation work hard every day to provide exemplary customer
service to plan members.
he jumped at it.
It not only takes the worry out
of retirement for employees who
participate in the PSSP, he says. It
removes risks and worries for employers who currently administer
their own defined benefit plans.
And of course, it is the perfect
way for LeLievre to fulfil his dream
of helping people plan for their
futures. “I want to scream from the
rooftops about how we’re able to
help people and what we’re able to
provide,” he says. “It’s a true topdown belief that we can help Nova
Scotians, and we’re really excited
about it.”
That desire to help people — in
values-based work that aligns with
an employee’s belief — is what
Douha Swaniker, a client services
consultant, says drives her in her
role too.
She loves the response she gets
from people who call in with questions. “When they call, we pick up
so quickly, that they are like, ‘Oh,
my goodness. Are you a human or
a machine?’”
“I’m a human,” Swaniker assures
them. “You feel so good when you
are able to make things simpler
and more comfortable, especially
for older people who find it
difficult to navigate in this modern,
technological world,” she says.
“Most of the time we talk to a lot
of people who are alone — they
live alone, their kids have left the
house. The integral part of the job
is knowing that we are making a
big, big difference in the life of our
retirees.”
Unlike the experience in many
other customer service jobs,
Swaniker says almost everyone
she deals with is nice. And if she
ever receives a question she can’t
answer, the support system with
employees in other departments is
“awesome,” she says. “It’s prompt
