In the administration of a pension plan, there are a number of situations which call for the use of prescribed forms. These forms often require decisions to be made that can affect the pension plan entitlements of members and other plan beneficiaries. Sometimes, in an effort to adapt and/or make the prescribed forms more readable…
Practice Area: Pensions, Benefits & Compensation
Proposed Changes to OMERS Target Emergency Services Employees and High Income Earners
On May 4, 2011, the OMERS Sponsors Corporation (“SC”) made public seven proposed changes to the OMERS pension plans. The proposals have been put forward by various individual SC members in connection with the SC’s annual review of the OMERS pension plans. There are two main objectives: (1) improving the funded position of the top-up…
Bill C-9 Pension Reforms Come Into Force
Effective April 1, 2011 and July 1, 2011, certain sections of the federal Jobs and Economic Growth Act (Bill C-9) and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (“PBSA”) come into force. As previously reported, amendments to the PBSA which were brought into force effective April 1, 2011 include provisions: permitting plan sponsors to secure letters…
Ontario Court of Appeal Revisits Pension and Insolvency Principles: Indalex
INTRODUCTION On April 7, 2011, the Ontario Court of Appeal (the “Court”) released its decision in Re Indalex Limited. In this decision, the Court considers and revisits fundamental and established Canadian pension and insolvency law principles, making this decision required reading for members of pension committees, human resources professionals involved in pension plan administration, and…
A Roadmap to Federal Pension Reform
On April 1, 2011, amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations (“PBSR“) came into effect that alter the rules regarding the funding and operation of pension plans governed by the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (“PBSA“). Since 2009, the Federal Government has taken a number of steps to reform the PBSA and the PBSR. This…
Ontario Budget 2011 – Highlights for Employers
INTRODUCTION On March 29, 2011, the Honourable Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, tabled the government’s 2011 Budget, “Turning the Corner to a Better Tomorrow”, before the Legislature and simultaneously introduced omnibus legislation amending a variety of statutes to implement some of these initiatives through Bill 173, the Better Tomorrow for Ontario Act (Budget Measures),…
Pension Benefits Act Regulations
On March 25, 2011, the Ontario government filed two regulations amending General Regulation 909 under the Pension Benefits Act: O. Reg. 84/11, dealing with the deadlines for solvency valuations and related payments for certain plans in the public sector and broader public sector; and O. Reg. 85/11, providing for the adoption of the federal investment…
Federal Pension Regulations in Effect April 1, 2011
On April 1, 2011, regulatory amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 will come into force. These amendments support the changes to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (PBSA) made by Bill C-9, which is discussed here. As previously reported, these amendments will: permit plan sponsors to secure properly structured letters of credit in…
Federal Budget 2011
The Minister of Finance, the Honourable James M. Flaherty, tabled the Government of Canada’s 2011 Budget “A Low-Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth” in the House of Commons on March 22, 2011. In this FTR Now we review the key aspects of the Budget that are of most interest to employers and human resources professionals….
Québec proposes stronger retirement income system
On March 17, 2011, the Québec government tabled its 2011-2012 Budget. The Budget proposed, among other things, to strengthen Québec’s retirement income system by: making adjustments to the Québec Pension Plan, as of January 1, 2012, to guarantee a new basic income to Québecers at retirement; and undertaking to implement new Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans…