Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act (S.C. 2012, c. 16)

Marginal note:Advance notice to employees

• 41. (1) At least 30 days before entering into a contract with an administrator to provide a pooled registered pension plan to a class of employees, an employer must notify in writing each employee of that class of

  • (a) its intention to enter into the contract;

  • (b) any existing business relationships it has with the administrator of the plan; and

  • (c) the right of any employee to object to being a member of the plan because of their religious beliefs.

• Marginal note:Notice of plan membership

  (2) As soon as feasible after the employer enters into the contract with the administrator to provide a pooled registered pension plan to a class of employees, either the administrator or the employer must notify in writing each employee of that class of their membership in the plan. The notice must

  • (a) inform them of a member’s right to terminate their membership in the plan by notifying the employer within 60 days after receiving the notice; and

  • (b) include the prescribed information.

• Marginal note:Contract must specify

  (3) The contract referred to in subsection (2) must specify whether it is the employer or the administrator who has the duty to provide the notification under that subsection.

• Marginal note:New employee

  (4) As soon as feasible after the employer hires an employee who is part of the class of employees who are members of the pooled registered pension plan, the notice referred to in subsection (2) must be provided to that employee.

• Marginal note:Membership termination

  (5) An employee may terminate their membership in a pooled registered pension plan by notifying the employer within 60 days after receiving notice under subsection (2).

Marginal note:Religious objections

• 42. (1) An employee who objects to being a member of a pooled registered pension plan because of their religious beliefs must notify the employer.

• Marginal note:Employer’s duty

  (2) An employer that is notified by an employee under subsection (1) must, as soon as feasible, take any measure that is necessary to ensure that the employee does not become a member of the plan or, if the employee is already a member, that the employee’s membership is terminated.

Marginal note:Transfer of assets to new plan

• 43. (1) An employer that provides a pooled registered pension plan to a class of employees and enters into a contract with an administrator to provide a new pooled registered pension plan to that class must cause the assets of the former plan to be transferred to the new plan and must provide the notification referred to in subsection 41(2) to the employees in that class.

• Marginal note:No membership termination

  (2) Despite subsection 41(5), the employees who were members of the former pooled registered pension plan are not entitled to terminate their membership in the new pooled registered pension plan and the notice provided to them under subsection 41(2) is not to include the information referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

• Marginal note:Costs

  (3) The employer is responsible for all of the costs in relation to the transfer of assets from one pooled registered pension plan to another.

Marginal note:Termination of membership

44. A member of a pooled registered pension plan, other than one who has become a member under section 39 or 40, may terminate their membership in the plan by notifying the administrator.

Contributions

Marginal note:Contribution rates

• 45. (1) The contribution rates in respect of members of a pooled registered pension plan, and any increases to those rates, are set by the administrator. The administrator must inform members of the contribution rates and of any increases.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subject to the regulations, a member may, after notifying the administrator, set a contribution rate of 0%.

Marginal note:Deductions from remuneration

46. The employer may begin to deduct a member’s contributions to the pooled registered pension plan from the member’s remuneration no earlier than 61 days after the day on which the administrator or employer provides the notice referred to in subsection 41(2).

Locking-in

Marginal note:Provisions respecting locking-in

• 47. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and any other provision of this Act and the regulations, a pooled registered pension plan must provide that

  • (a) the funds in an account with the plan, or any interest or right in those funds, are not capable of being transferred, charged, attached, anticipated or given as security and that any transaction appearing to do so is void or, in Quebec, null;

  • (b) an interest or right in the funds in a member’s account is not capable of being surrendered;

  • (c) a member is not permitted to withdraw the funds in their account; and

  • (d) an administrator is not permitted to withdraw the funds from a member’s account.

• Marginal note:Optional provisions

  (2) A pooled registered pension plan may provide that

  • (a) in the case of a disability as defined by the regulations, a member may withdraw the funds in their account; and

  • (b) if the amount of funds in the member’s account is — subject to any other percentage that may be prescribed — less than 20% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings for the year in which the member dies, in which the member provides the notification referred to in section 44 or in which the member is no longer employed by an employer that is participating in the plan, the funds in the account may be withdrawn by the member or survivor, as the case may be.

Variable Payments

Marginal note:Election

48. A pooled registered pension plan may provide that a member who has reached the prescribed age that is fixed for the purposes of this section may elect to receive variable payments from the funds in their account.

Marginal note:Entitlement of survivor

49. In the case of the death of a member who had a spouse or common-law partner at the time at which variable payments commenced, the survivor is entitled to receive — subject to the regulations, the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations — variable payments from the funds in the member’s account.

Marginal note:Transfer or purchase of annuity

• 50. (1) At least once every year, or more frequently if the pooled registered pension plan permits, a member or their survivor who receives variable payments may elect

  • (a) to transfer the funds in the member’s account to an account for the member or survivor, as the case may be, with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) to transfer the funds in the member’s account to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be; or

  • (c) to use the funds in the member’s account to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Notification and effect to notification

  (2) A member or survivor must notify the administrator of their intention to make the election referred to in subsection (1) and the administrator must, without delay, take the necessary action to give effect to the notification.

• Marginal note:Transfer in case of death

  (3) The survivor may also, if he or she notifies the administrator of their intention to do so within 90 days after the death of the member or, in the case where the Superintendent permits a longer period under paragraph 57(1)(e) for giving the statement referred to in that paragraph, within 60 days after the day on which the administrator gives that statement,

  • (a) transfer the funds in the member’s account to an account for the survivor with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) transfer the funds in the member’s account to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for the survivor; or

  • (c) use the funds in the member’s account to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for the survivor.

• Marginal note:Effect to notification

  (4) The administrator must, without delay, take the necessary action to give effect to the notification.

Marginal note:Cessation

51. Before an administrator may cease to make the variable payments referred to in section 48 and 49, the administrator must offer the member or survivor who receives those variable payments the options set out in subsection 50(1).

Death of Member

Marginal note:Entitlement of survivor

• 52. (1) In the case of the death of a member who had a spouse or common-law partner at the time of death, the survivor is entitled to the funds in the member’s account.

• Marginal note:Designated beneficiary or estate or succession

  (2) If a member dies without leaving a survivor, the funds in the member’s account are to be paid, subject to the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations, to the member’s designated beneficiary or, if there is none, to the member’s estate or succession.

• Marginal note:Surrender of funds in account

  (3) If a pooled registered pension plan provides that a member’s survivor may surrender their right or interest in the funds in the member’s account, in writing, to a beneficiary designated by the survivor who is the survivor’s or member’s dependant as defined in subsection 8500(1) of the Income Tax Regulations, the funds in the member’s account are to be paid to that designated beneficiary.

Divorce, Annulment, Separation or Breakdown of Common-law Partnership

Meaning of “provincial law relating to the distribution of property”

• 53. (1) In this section, “provincial law relating to the distribution of property” means the law of a province relating to the distribution of property, in accordance with a court order or an agreement between them,

  • (a) of spouses on divorce, annulment or separation; or

  • (b) of former common-law partners on the breakdown of their common-law partnership.

• Marginal note:Funds in member’s account

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the funds in the account of a member with a pooled registered pension plan are, on divorce, annulment, separation or breakdown of common-law partnership, subject to provincial law relating to the distribution of property.

• Marginal note:Power to transfer to spouse, etc.

  (3) A member of a pooled registered pension plan may transfer all or a portion of the funds in their account to their spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, effective as of divorce, annulment, separation, or breakdown of the common-law partnership, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Spouse, etc., must transfer

  (4) The spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner to whom all or a portion of the funds in a member’s account are transferred under subsection (3) must

  • (a) transfer those funds to an account for him or her with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) transfer those funds to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for him or her; or

  • (c) use those funds to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for him or her.

• Marginal note:Duty of administrator

  (5) On divorce, annulment, separation or breakdown of a common-law partnership, if a court order or an agreement between the parties provides for the distribution of property between a member and their spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner, the administrator must determine and administer the member’s account in the prescribed manner and in accordance with the court order or the agreement on receipt of

  • (a) a written request from either the member or their spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner that all or part of the funds in the member’s account be distributed or administered in accordance with the court order or the agreement; and

  • (b) a copy of the court order or the agreement.

  However, in the case of a court order, the administrator must not administer the member’s account in accordance with the court order until all appeals from that order have been finally determined or the time for appealing has expired.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (6) On receipt of a request referred to in paragraph (5)(a), the administrator must notify the non-requesting spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner of the request and must provide that person with a copy of the court order or agreement submitted in support of the request, but this requirement does not apply in respect of a request or an agreement received by the administrator in a form or manner that indicates that it was jointly submitted.