In its 2016 budget, the federal government proposed changes to the agreement powers of the Pension Benefits Standards Act.
The changes, according to the budget document, would “broaden the scope of its ability to enter into bilateral agreements with provinces under the PBSA, which will better allow the federal and provincial governments to work together to oversee certain pension plans.”
“At a high level, having the ability to do that would make sense,” said Jean-Philippe Provost, leader of Mercer’s retirement practice in Canada. “The pension landscape in Canada is significantly more complex than it is in other countries. We have 11 sets of rules for a country of 35 million people. If we look south, our colleagues in the U.S. have 230 million people and one set of pension rules.
“Anything that can be done to simplify that would resonate well with employers.”