Practice Area: Pensions, Benefits & Compensation

Supreme Cour tof Canada Issues Definitive Guidance on Pension Plan Expenses and Use of Surplus

· 9 min read

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its judgment upholding the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Kerry (Canada) Inc. v. DCA Employees Pension Committee. The Supreme Court’s decision provides helpful guidance on a number of important issues, including the payment of plan expenses from a pension fund, the use of actuarial surplus under a…

Supreme Court of Canada Issues Definitive Guidance on Pension Plan Expenses and Use of Surplus

· 9 min read

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its judgment upholding the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Kerry (Canada) Inc. v. DCA Employees Pension Committee. The Supreme Court’s decision provides helpful guidance on a number of important issues, including the payment of plan expenses from a pension fund, the use of actuarial surplus under a…

Prior Approval for Commuted Value Transfers Now Required

· 5 min read

Due to recent changes to the Regulations under the Ontario Pension Benefits Act, administrators of underfunded defined benefit pension plans registered in Ontario must in certain situations obtain the approval of the Superintendent of Financial Services of Ontario (the “Superintendent”) before transferring any part of the commuted value of a terminated member’s deferred pension or…

Defining “Employer” For Pension Funding Purposes

· 13 min read

The Financial Services Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) recently released a decision that discusses, in detail, who is the employer for funding purposes under the Pension Benefits Act (“PBA”). This decision will be of interest to employers who participate in pension plans with more than one employer, but are not multi-employer pension plans or “MEPPs”, if the…

Solvency Funding Relief is Here

· 21 min read

This week saw the culmination of many months of work by the Ontario and Federal Governments with respect to solvency funding relief measures. As of yesterday, June 24, 2009, both sets of solvency funding relief regulations have been enacted. The new regulations attempt to balance the goals of maintaining benefit security for employees and retirees,…

Pension Funding In CCAA Restructuring Proceedings

· 4 min read

The pension plan funding difficulties of cash strapped companies have been the focus of significant media attention over the last few months.  It is no surprise that two recent decisions of the Quebec Superior Court have gained considerable attention.  This FTR Now looks at the AbitibiBowater proceedings and the court’s consideration of a company’s ability…

Ontario Budget 2009

· 10 min read

INTRODUCTION Yesterday, Ontario’s Minister of Finance introduced the 2009 Ontario Budget in the Legislature, which is optimistically titled “Confronting the Challenge: Building Our Economic Future”. The Budget aims to kick-start the battered Ontario economy through its twin centrepieces: tax reform and infrastructure spending. While much attention will be focused on the Budget’s proposal to harmonize…