Long-awaited amendments to the Ontario Pension Benefits Act (“PBA”) regarding the transfer of assets between pension plans became effective on January 1, 2014. New supporting Regulations under the PBA[1] (the “Asset Transfer Regulations”) also came into force on January 1, 2014. This FTR Now provides a high-level overview of the new asset transfer regime. The…
Author: Hicks Morley
OHSA regulations amended – Diving Operations, Mines and Mining Plants
On February 14, 2014, the Ontario government filed the following Occupational Health and Safety Act regulations: O. Reg. 32/14 (Diving Operations), extensively amending various sections of O. Reg. 629/94; and O. Reg. 34/14 (Mines and Mining Plants), amending Regulation 854 of R.R.O. 1990 (now in force). O. Reg. 32/14 comes into force March 1, 2014.
Proposed Amendment to CPP Regulations Defining “Substantially Gainful” Occupation
On February 15, 2014, the federal government published proposed Regulations Amending the Canada Pension Plan Regulations. If adopted, the proposed Regulations would prescribe the meaning of “‘substantially gainful’, in respect of an occupation” in subsections 42(1) and 89(1) of the Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”), one of the factors relevant to determining when a person is…
Ontario Files ESA Regulatory Amendment Implementing New Minimum Wage Effective June 1, 2014
As previously reported, Ontario’s minimum wage is increasing to $11 effective June 1, 2014. On February 14, 2014, the Ontario government filed O. Reg. 31/14 amending O. Reg. 285/01 made under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Exemptions, Special Rules and Establishment of Minimum Wage) to implement these changes.
Federal Budget 2014
On February 11, 2014, the Minister of Finance, the Honourable James Flaherty, tabled the 2014 Federal Budget “The Road to Balance: Creating Jobs and Opportunities” (Economic Action Plan 2014). This FTR Now focuses on some of the key proposals that are of particular interest to employers, human resources professionals and pension plan administrators. TAX INITIATIVES…
Class Action on Reduction of Retiree Benefits to Proceed
A proposed class action brought in Québec by retirees against their former employer was recently authorized by the Supreme Court of Canada. The claim advanced in Vivendi Canada Inc. v. Dell’Aniello related to unilateral changes made by the employer in 2009 to the retirees’ supplemental health insurance plan. The Court found that the four criteria…
New Roadmap for Summary Judgment Motions Developed by SCC
In a case involving the use of summary judgment motions (Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7) , the Supreme Court of Canada discussed access to justice issues in providing courts with guidance on the test for such motions. It held that summary judgment rules must be “interpreted broadly, favouring proportionality and fair access to the…
Court of Appeal for Ontario considers mitigation in OHSA sentencing case
In Ontario (Labour) v. Flex-N-Gate Canada Company, the Court of Appeal for Ontario found that corrective action taken by an employer to merely comply with a safety order following a workplace accident was not a mitigating factor for sentencing purposes under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”), and that fines for multiple OHSA breaches…
Federal Budget 2014 Introduced
Today, the federal government tabled its Budget 2014, The Road to Balance: Creating Jobs and Opportunities (Economic Action Plan 2014), a brief summary of which is outlined in a Department of Finance news release. Hicks Morley is in the process of reviewing the Budget. An FTR Now outlining the Budget’s highlights for employers and pension plan…
Ontario Proposes “10% Rule” Exemption for U.S. Government Securities
On February 5, 2014, the Ontario government published proposed amendments to Regulation 909 under the Pension Benefits Act that would, if adopted, exempt investments in securities issued and fully guaranteed by the government of the United States of America (“U.S.”) from the so-called “10% rule” in respect of the quantitative investment limits applicable to registered…