Human Resources Legislative Update
Federal Government Publishes Pooled Registered Pension Plan Regulations
Date: August 10, 2012
On August 10, 2012, the federal government published proposed regulations to support the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act (“PRPP Act”). The Pooled Registered Pension Plan Regulations provide supporting details for the provisions of the PRPP Act respecting:
- the licensing conditions for a Pooled Registered Pension Plan (“PRPP”) administrator;
- the management and investment of funds in members’ accounts;
- details with respect to the investment options offered to members;
- criteria for determining whether a PRPP is a “low-cost” plan;
- conditions under which a PRPP member is allowed to set his or her contribution rate to 0%; and
- information that PRPP administrators must disclose to PRPP members, employers and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
The regulations will be published in the Canada Gazette on August 11, 2012. A 30-day public comment period begins August 11, 2012 in respect of these proposed regulations.
The federal government announced that a second package of regulations under the PRPP Act will follow at the earliest opportunity. Additional regulations are required for, amongst other things, provisions respecting the locking-in of a member’s account, and the use of prescribed forms and electronic communications between PRPP administrators, members and/or employers. Changes to the Income Tax Act (Canada) are still required before PRPPs can be offered by employers.
An introduction to the PRPP framework can be found in our FTR Now of November 23, 2011, “Pooled Registered Pension Plan Framework Introduced.”
