Articles 2022

Alberta amends regulations under Employment Pension Plans Act.

On December 17, 2014, the Ontario government released its second consultation paper regarding the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. The paper identifies three key policy areas for discussion - (i) meaning of comparable plan; (ii) minimum earnings threshold; and (iii) supporting the self-employed - each of which is followed by a series of questions.

On November 27, 2014, amendments to the Regulations under the PBA came into force, revising the rules related to Statements of Investment Policies and Procedures and adding a new requirement to send pension statements to the plan’s former members and retired members.

Louben Sportswear Inc. failed to ensure that a multi-employer pension plan in which it participated was amended to reflect its withdrawal from the plan. As a result, Louben was liable for its share of the plan deficit that had accumulated as of the wind up date (in 2012) rather than the lesser amount which had accumulated as of Louben's withdrawal date (in 2010).

Alberta Finance announced that it will be replacing all of its Policy Bulletins with Interpretive Guidelines. Over the past few months, it has released the first seven Guidelines in draft for comment.

Former spouse did not waive entitlement to a joint and survivor pension in the separation agreement.

FSCO has posted a Guidance Note for public consultation regarding Buy-In Annuities for Defined Benefit Plans.

FSCO has posted an Investment Guidance Note for public consultation regarding Prudent Investment Practices for Derivatives. The Note sets out FSCO’s expectations for plan administrators who choose to invest plan assets in derivatives.

The Ontario government has posted a paper outlining proposed amendments to the regulations under the Ontario Pension Benefits Act, which would allow pension plans to further invest in local infrastructure by exempting plans’ investments in certain Ontario public infrastructure projects from the “30 per cent” pension investment rule.

The Ontario government has posted draft amendments to General Regulation 909 which propose changes related to the following: commuted value transfers, statements to former and retired members and statements of investment policies and procedures.