Standard Life has launched a new website offering information on pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) and its Quebec counterpart, voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSPs).
The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) is calling on the provinces and territories to enact legislation that would provide access to pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) for small businesses and the self-employed.
Bill C-25, the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, received Royal Assent yesterday, moving the legislation another step closer to becoming law. Federal tax legislation still needs to be passed, and regulations will soon be published to address provisions of the Act.
Canada's Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act was passed by the House of Commons yesterday.
It seems the idea of expanding the Canada Pension Plan doesn’t die easily. The NDP hasn’t let it go, nor has the Ontario government who, with their March 27 budget, reiterated their preference for a “modest, phased-in expansion of CPP” over pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs).
The pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) announced by the federal government last year is the first step in the reforms needed to extend pension coverage to the more than 60% of the Canadian workforce not currently enrolled in a workplace plan. However, as the Ontario government hinted in its recent budget, there are a number of challenges with the PRPP design.
One of the touted benefits of pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) is that they involve an off-loading of fiduciary duty. The employer just has to select and monitor the administrator and have the payroll system remit the contributions. The administrator, acting as a trustee for the members, is responsible for everything else.
In the provincial budget tabled yesterday, the Ontario government stated that it has several concerns with the federal model of pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) as currently proposed, including the worry that PRPPs may simply replace one form of retirement coverage, rather than expanding retirement income savings.
Yesterday, the Quebec government tabled its 2012 budget, which included detailed provisions for the voluntary retirement savings plan (VRSP). The VRSP is Quebec’s version of the pooled registered pension plan (PRPP).
The majority of Canadians lack retirement security and the federal government’s proposed pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) will do little to reduce risks for these individuals, according to a new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP).