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Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 (SOR/87-19)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2017-06-23. Previous Versions

Application for Registration (continued)

 [Repealed, SOR/2015-60, s. 5]

 [Repealed, SOR/2015-60, s. 5]

 [Repealed, SOR/2015-60, s. 5]

Reporting

  •  (1) An information return required under subsection 12(1) of the Act to be filed annually shall contain information in respect of a plan that is related to that plan year.

  • (2) An information return required under subsection 12(1) of the Act to be filed other than annually shall contain all the information in respect of a plan relating to that portion of a plan year up to and including the date on which the information return is prepared.

 An information return referred to in subsection 12(1) of the Act shall contain the information set out in Form 2 of Schedule II.

  •  (1) The Superintendent shall require an administrator to file a cost certificate, prepared by an actuary, accountant or other professional advisor as of the effective date of an amendment to the plan that alters the cost of benefits under the plan or alters the contributions to the plan, in the case of

    • (a) a defined contribution plan where the contributions under the plan are allocated to individual plan members; and

    • (b) a defined benefit plan that is an insured plan.

  • (2) A cost certificate referred to in subsection (1) shall include

    • (a) the estimated cost of benefits under the plan and the contributions to the plan, showing separately employer and plan member contributions

      • (i) for the plan year following the effective date of the amendment, where the effective date falls on the last day of the plan year, or

      • (ii) for the plan year in which the effective date of the amendment falls, where the effective date falls on any other day of the plan year; and

    • (b) the formula for computing the cost of benefits, showing the formula for allocating the cost between the employer and the plan members for subsequent plan years.

  •  (1) The Superintendent may require the administrator to file, at such intervals or times as the Superintendent directs,

    • (a) subject to subsection (2), a list of assets held by the plan on the date directed by the Superintendent, showing

      • (i) the book value of each asset,

      • (ii) the market value of each asset, and

      • (iii) such information as will permit the verification of the market value attributed to an asset and the determination of whether the requirements of section 6 have been met;

    • (b) an appraisal that will permit the verification of the market value attributed to an asset held by the plan;

    • (c) if the plan is not an insured plan,

      • (i) a financial statement of the pension fund,

      • (ii) any information that the Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants requires to be set out in a financial statement of a pension plan, and

      • (iii) an auditor’s report of the pension fund;

    • (d) information concerning the investments of the pension fund, including the information set out in Form 2.1 of Schedule II;

    • (e) any information relating to the determination of the solvency and funding status of a pension plan;

    • (f) the location of any books, records or other documents relating to a pension plan or to any securities, obligations or other investments in which pension fund money is invested;

    • (g) the name of the collective bargaining agent, if any, who represents the pension plan members;

    • (h) the information necessary to identify the employers who participate in or who have ceased participation in the plan;

    • (i) a certificate of the administrator or any person preparing, compiling or filing any information on behalf of the administrator that certifies that the information submitted to the Superintendent is accurate;

    • (j) a record of, or any other document evidencing, any operating expenses paid from the plan fund or that are due or accrued from the plan fund, including the names of any payees, the purpose and amounts of any payments made or to be made to each payee, including the aggregate amounts; and

    • (k) a record of, or any other document evidencing, all direct and indirect compensation that a person received or that is due or accrued in relation to any service provided by the person in respect of the plan.

  • (2) A list of assets is not required in respect of a plan under which benefits are provided through

    • (a) a contract issued by a person authorized to carry on a life insurance business in Canada, other than a contract in respect of which separate and distinct funds are maintained by the person; or

    • (b) a contract issued by the Government of Canada.

  • SOR/93-299, s. 4
  • SOR/95-171, s. 6
  • SOR/2002-78, s. 11

Refund of Surplus

[
  • SOR/2001-222, s. 2(F)
]
  •  (1) For the purposes of the definition surplus in subsection 2(1) of the Act, the amount by which the assets of the plan exceeds its liabilities shall be determined by subtracting the liabilities of the plan from its assets, as those assets and liabilities are shown in an actuarial report and, in the case of a plan that has not been fully terminated, as those assets and liabilities are valued in the report according to a going concern valuation.

  • (2) A refund of all or part of a surplus may be made if

    • (a) in respect of a plan that has not been fully terminated, the surplus exceeds the greater of the following amounts that are attributable to the defined benefit provisions of the plan, namely,

      • (i) two times the employer’s contribution to the normal cost of the plan, and

      • (ii) 25% of the liabilities of the plan, determined according to a solvency valuation;

    • (b) the administrator of the plan has given notice in writing to the plan members, former members and any other person who is entitled to a pension benefit under the terms of the plan that the employer intends to withdraw all or part of the surplus and that they may make any comments in writing to the Superintendent concerning the refund;

    • (c) 30 days have gone by after the day on which the administrator gave notice under paragraph (b);

    • (d) the Superintendent has consented to the refund of all or part of the surplus and has given notice of that consent in writing to the persons referred to in paragraph (b) who made comments in writing concerning the refund; and

    • (e) 40 days have gone by after the day on which the Superintendent gave notice under paragraph (d).

  • (3) For the purpose of this section, liabilities accrued under the defined contribution provisions of a plan as the result of a conversion of defined benefit provisions to defined contribution provisions are deemed not to be attributable to the defined benefit provisions of the plan.

  • (4) In respect of a plan that has not been fully terminated, the surplus or part of it that may be refunded may be no greater than the amount by which the surplus exceeds the greater of the following amounts that are attributable to the defined benefit provisions of the plan:

    • (a) two times the employer’s contribution to the normal cost of the plan, and

    • (b) 25% of the liabilities of the plan, determined according to a solvency valuation.

  • (5) The following classes of persons are prescribed for the purpose of paragraph 9.2(3)(b) of the Act:

    • (a) any persons who are entitled to pension benefits payable from the plan, but not including plan members;

    • (b) survivors, spouses, former spouses, common-law partners and former common-law partners of members or former members if the survivor, spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner is entitled to pension benefits or pension benefit credits payable from the plan; and

    • (c) any persons for whom the administrator has purchased annuities, other than life annuities purchased under section 26 of the Act, but not including plan members.

  • SOR/93-109, s. 5(F)
  • SOR/95-171, s. 6
  • SOR/2001-222, s. 3
  • SOR/2010-149, s. 5(F)
  • SOR/2011-85, s. 8
  • SOR/2015-60, s. 6
  •  (1) An employer shall notify the persons referred to in paragraph 9.2(3)(a) of the Act of the employer’s proposal for a refund of a surplus or part of it by sending a notice to the current address of the person or, if the person is an employee, to their place of work.

  • (2) An employer shall notify the persons referred to in paragraph 9.2(3)(b) of the Act of the employer’s proposal for a refund of a surplus or part of it

    • (a) by sending a notice to the person at their current address contained in the employer’s records or at the address the employer reasonably believes to be their current address; or

    • (b) if the address of the person is unknown, by publishing a notice, in both official languages, once a week for two consecutive weeks, in one or more newspapers in general circulation in each province.

  • SOR/2001-222, s. 3

Arbitration Relating to Refund of Surplus

  •  (1) An arbitration under subsection 9.2(4) of the Act shall include procedures by which

    • (a) unionized members can make written representations to the executive of their union; and

    • (b) any person, other than a person described in paragraph (a), who is described in subsection 9.2(3) of the Act can make written representations to the arbitrator.

  • (2) For the purposes of subsection 9.2(7) of the Act, the prescribed period is one year beginning on the day on which the employer notifies the Superintendent and persons referred to in subsection 9.2(3) of the Act in accordance with subsection 9.2(4) or (5) of the Act, as the case may be.

  • (3) The arbitrator shall publish a notice of the date, time and place at which the arbitration will begin.

  • (4) The notice must include

    • (a) the mailing address from where the persons referred to in subsection 9.2(3) of the Act can obtain a copy of the procedures for the arbitration; and

    • (b) the mailing address where those persons may send their written representations.

  • (5) The notice must be published, in both official languages, once a week for two consecutive weeks, in one or more newspapers in general circulation in each province in which persons referred to in subsection 9.2(3) of the Act reside or, if a person’s province of residence is not known, in each province.

  • (6) The last notice must be published not more than eight weeks and not less than four weeks before the day on which the arbitration begins.

  • SOR/2001-222, s. 3
  • SOR/2011-196, s. 32

Indexation

 The annual increase of the Consumer Price Index referred to in paragraph 21(6)(b) of the Act is the ratio of the aggregate of the Consumer Price Index for a current period of 12 consecutive months prior to the end of a plan year, or prior to the date the deferred pension benefit is adjusted as specified in the plan, if that date is other than the end of the plan year, to the aggregate of the Consumer Price Index for a corresponding period one year earlier, minus one.

Portability of Pension Benefit Credits

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), a pension benefit credit shall be determined in accordance with the Recommendations for the Computation of Transfer Values from Registered Pension Plans effective September 1, 1993 issued by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, as amended from time to time.

  • (2) In the case of a defined contribution plan, where the contributions under the plan are allocated to an individual plan member, the pension benefit credit of a plan member or the survivor of a plan member shall be the value of the accumulated contributions made under the plan by or in respect of the plan member since the plan member became a plan member.

  • (3) A plan member or the survivor of a plan member who wishes to transfer the pension benefit credit of the plan member or the survivor shall notify the administrator thereof in the form set out in Form 3 of Schedule II.

  • (3.1) The consent referred to in subsection 26(2.1) of the Act shall be in Form 3.1 of Schedule II.

  • (4) A pension benefit credit shall be determined

    • (a) where a plan member retires or dies or the whole or part of the plan is terminated, as of the date of the retirement, death or termination;

    • (b) where a plan member ceases to be a plan member, as of the date that the plan member ceases to be a plan member; and

    • (c) where a plan member makes an assignment under subsection 25(4) of the Act, on the effective date of the assignment.

  • SOR/90-363, s. 4
  • SOR/94-384, s. 4
  • SOR/2001-194, ss. 1, 4
  • SOR/2002-78, s. 12
  • SOR/2015-60, s. 7
  •  (1) Where a plan has a solvency ratio that is less than one, any amount transferred out of the pension fund shall be considered to impair the solvency of the pension fund.

  • (2) Where a plan has a solvency ratio that is equal to one, any amount transferred out of the pension fund that would result in the plan having a solvency ratio of less than one shall be considered to impair the solvency of the pension fund.

 For the purposes of sections 16.4 and 26 of the Act, a life income fund, a restricted life income fund and a locked-in registered retirement savings plan are retirement savings plans into which a pension benefit credit may be transferred.

  • SOR/95-551, s. 2
  • SOR/2008-144, s. 2
  • SOR/2015-60, s. 8
  •  (1) A locked-in registered retirement savings plan shall provide that

    • (a) the funds may only be

      • (i) transferred to another locked-in registered retirement savings plan,

      • (ii) transferred to a plan, including any pension plan referred to in subsection 26(5) of the Act, if the plan permits such a transfer and if the plan administers the benefit attributed to the transferred funds as if the benefit were that of a plan member with two years of membership in the plan,

      • (iii) used to purchase an immediate life annuity or a deferred life annuity, or

      • (iv) transferred to a life income fund or to a restricted life income fund;

    • (b) on the death of the holder of the locked-in registered retirement savings plan, the funds shall be paid to the survivor of the holder by

      • (i) transferring the funds to another locked-in registered retirement savings plan,

      • (ii) transferring the funds to a plan, including any pension plan referred to in subsection 26(5) of the Act, if the plan permits such a transfer and if the plan administers the benefit attributed to the transferred funds as if the benefit were that of a plan member with two years membership in the plan,

      • (iii) using the funds to purchase an immediate life annuity or a deferred life annuity, or

      • (iv) transferring the funds to a life income fund or to a restricted life income fund;

    • (c) except as provided in subsection 25(4) of the Act, the funds shall not be assigned, charged, anticipated or given as security and any transaction purporting to assign, charge, anticipate or give the funds as security is void;

    • (d) the holder of the locked-in registered retirement savings plan may withdraw an amount from that plan up to the lesser of the amount determined by the formula set out in subsection (1.1) and 50% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings minus any amount withdrawn in the calendar year under this paragraph — from any locked-in registered retirement savings plan — or under paragraph 20.1(1)(m), 20.2(1)(e) or 20.3(1)(m)

      • (i) if the holder certifies that the holder has not made a withdrawal in the calendar year under this paragraph — from any locked-in registered retirement savings plan — or under paragraph 20.1(1)(m), 20.2(1)(e) or 20.3(1)(m) other than within the last 30 days before this certification,

      • (ii) if, in the event that the value of M in subsection (1.1) is greater than zero,

        • (A) the holder certifies that the holder expects to make expenditures on medical or disability-related treatment or adaptive technology for the calendar year in excess of 20% of the holder’s total expected income for that calendar year determined in accordance with the Income Tax Act, excluding withdrawals in the calendar year under this paragraph — from any locked-in registered retirement savings plan — or under paragraph 20.1(1)(m), 20.2(1)(e) or 20.3(1)(m), and

        • (B) a physician certifies that such medical or disability-related treatment or adaptive technology is required, and

      • (iii) if the holder gives a copy of Form 1 and Form 2 of Schedule V to the financial institution with whom the contract or arrangement for the locked-in registered retirement savings plan was entered into;

    • (e) the holder of the locked-in registered retirement savings plan who has ceased to be a resident of Canada for at least two years may withdraw any amount from that plan; and

    • (f) in the calendar year in which the holder of the locked-in registered retirement savings plan reaches 55 years of age or in any subsequent calendar year, the funds may be paid to the holder in a lump sum if

      • (i) the holder certifies that the total value of all assets in all locked-in registered retirement savings plans, life income funds, restricted locked-in savings plans and restricted life income funds that were created as a result of a transfer of pension benefit credits under section 16.4 or 26 of the Act, a transfer under these Regulations or a transfer under section 50, 53 or 54 of the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act or Pooled Registered Pension Plans Regulations, is less than or equal to 50% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings, and

      • (ii) the holder gives a copy of Form 2 and Form 3 of Schedule V to the financial institution with whom the contract or arrangement for the locked-in registered retirement savings plan was entered into.

  • (1.1) The amount referred to in paragraph (1)(d), 20.1(1)(m), 20.2(1)(e) or 20.3(1)(m) is determined by the following formula:

    M + N

    where

    M
    is the total amount of the expenditures that the holder expects to make on medical or disability-related treatment or adaptive technology for the calendar year, and
    N
    is the greater of zero and the amount determined by the formula

    P - Q

    where

    P
    is 50% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings, and
    Q
    is two thirds of the holder’s total expected income for the calendar year determined in accordance with the Income Tax Act, excluding withdrawals in the calendar year under paragraph (1)(d), 20.1(1)(m), 20.2(1)(e) or 20.3(1)(m).
  • (2) Where a pension benefit credit transferred into a locked-in registered retirement savings plan was not varied according to the sex of the plan member, an immediate life annuity or a deferred life annuity purchased by the funds accumulated in the locked-in registered retirement savings plan shall not differentiate as to sex.

  • (3) A locked-in registered retirement savings plan shall contain a statement as to whether or not the pension benefit credit transferred pursuant to section 26 of the Act was varied according to the sex of the plan member.

  • (4) A locked-in registered retirement savings plan shall provide that, where a physician certifies that owing to mental or physical disability the life expectancy of the holder of the plan is likely to be shortened considerably, the funds may be paid to the holder in a lump sum.

  • (5) The contract or arrangement establishing a locked-in registered retirement savings plan shall set out the method of determining the value of the plan, including the valuation method used to establish its value on the death of the holder of the plan or on the transfer of assets from the plan.

  • SOR/93-109, s. 9(F)
  • SOR/95-551, s. 3
  • SOR/2001-194, s. 4
  • SOR/2008-144, s. 3
  • SOR/2011-85, s. 14(F)
  • SOR/2017-145, s. 5
 

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