Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Budget Bill Passes
Date: May 8, 2018
On May 8, 2018, Bill 31, the Plan for Care and Opportunity Act (Budget Measures), 2018, passed Third Reading and received Royal Assent. As previously reported, Bill 31 is omnibus legislation implementing some of the key initiatives outlined in the government’s 2018 Budget.
Bill 31 makes the following pension-related changes:
- Increases Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF) coverage from the first $1,000 per month to the first $1,500 per month, and eliminates age and service eligibility criteria, for plans with a wind up date on or after May 19, 2017.
- Requires periodic reviews of the provisions and regulations related to the PBGF, with the first review to be completed within three years of the date the changes come into force and subsequent reviews every five years thereafter.
- Will require that the pension regulator be alerted of a disclosable event, when such provisions come into force. (The details regarding the disclosable events regime are to be contained in regulations which have not yet been released.)
- Makes amendments in relation to the transition from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
- Provides for the establishment of a committee to advise the Chief Executive Officer of FSRA on matters related to the PBGF.
- Makes certain changes to further align Ontario’s pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) legislation with the federal PRPP legislation.
Other measures include:
- Amendments to the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act designating Canadian Blood Services as an essential service.
- Amendments to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 expanding current entitlements to benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to six new categories of workers, including Members of the College of Nurses of Ontario.
- Amendments to sections of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 dealing with local unions under trusteeship to prohibit direct or indirect “interference” by a parent trade union or council of trade unions, or the assumption of supervision or control “in such a way that the autonomy of the local trade union is affected.”
- Amendments to the Education Act regarding education services and reverse education services agreements to enable a new Reciprocal Education Approach, to improve access for First Nations students to both provincially funded schools and schools operated by First Nations.
The Bill should be consulted for coming into force information. For more information, consult the government announcement.
