Alberta is moving forward with sweeping pension reforms in the new Employment Pension Plans Act and regulations, which come into effect on Sept. 1, 2014. Alberta’s new approach of providing comprehensive and specific rules for various types of pension plan designs is a welcome change from the one-size-fits-all model employed in many other Canadian jurisdictions.
Reform of Canada’s public sector pension plans is no longer limited to active employees—increasingly governments are willing to address expensive components of retiree pensions as a part of their reform initiatives.
The target benefit plan (TBP) is a new pension model gaining both attention and momentum in Canada for its potential to provide plan members with sustainable retirement benefits and plan sponsors with better cost certainty. But while jurisdictions across the country have taken initial steps to allow for TBPs, more work needs to be done […]
The New Brunswick government has introduced Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Pension Benefits Act. Among other things, Bill 20 will afford protections for those carrying out administrative functions with respect to shared risk pension plans (SRPPs), provide protection for parties involved in the conversion of DB plans to SRPPs and clarify the treatment of vested base benefits.
On Nov. 15, 2012, regulations under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act (PBA) were filed regarding the use of letters of credit (LC) to cover a portion of an employer’s solvency payments into a DB pension plan. These new regulations modify previously announced changes to the PBA (effective Jan. 1, 2013) that had not yet come into force.
B plans across the country have faced significant issues in recent years, including low interest rates, changing demographics (such as longer life expectancy and an aging population) and unstable capital markets. All of these factors threaten the long-term sustainability of plans. The shared-risk model seeks to address these issues with a regime where there is a focus on robust risk management to promote benefit security and pension plan sustainability.
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in the Ault v. Canada (Attorney General) case serves as a reminder to pension service providers that they may have fiduciary duties to plan beneficiaries, and emphasizes the importance of accurate and full disclosure to plan members of relevant information. The case involved the administration of a public […]
Plan sponsors looking to convert from a defined benefit (DB) pension plan to a defined contribution (DC) plan should review the Alberta Court of Appeal case of Halliburton Group Canada v. Alberta (Minister of Finance). In Halliburton, the company was the sponsor and administrator of a DB plan that contained broad amendment powers. However, the […]
There has been a flurry of activity in the pension regulatory world over the past several months. This article will set out some of the changes that you should be aware of and potential future changes to watch for. Ontario changes There are changes to Ontario law that will likely require plan amendments to be […]
Pension plan administrators are required to exercise care, diligence, and prudence when administering a pension fund. Although they are permitted to appoint agents to carry out various tasks, the administrator is still required to supervise the agent. For example, Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act provides that where an administrator employs an agent, it must be satisfied […]