Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. S-24)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  Benefit Index

  Benefit Index has the meaning assigned by subsection 4(2); (indice de prestation)

  disabled

  disabled means incapable of pursuing regularly any substantially gainful occupation; (invalide)

  Minister

  Minister means such member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada as is designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act; (ministre)

  pension

  pension means any pension, annual allowance or annuity payable pursuant to an enactment listed or described in Schedule I; (pension)

  Pension Index

  Pension Index, with respect to any year, means the average for that year of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in the twelve month period ending on September 30 in the immediately preceding year; (indice de pension)

  prescribed

  prescribed means prescribed by regulations made under this Act; (Version anglaise seulement)

  recipient

  recipient means a person who

  • (a) has reached sixty years of age and is in receipt of a pension,

  • (b) not having reached sixty years of age

    • (i) is in receipt of a pension and is disabled,

    • (ii) is in receipt of a pension as a person described in

      • (A) paragraph 38(1)(b) of the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, chapter M-10 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970,

      • (B) paragraph 42(1)(c) or section 43.1 of the Judges Act,

      • (C) paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act, or

      • (D) subsection 3(1) of the Lieutenant Governors Superannuation Act, or

    • (iii) is in receipt of a pension pursuant to the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act, chapter D-3 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, chapter R-10 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, as a result of having been compulsorily retired from the regular force or the Force by reason of any mental or physical condition rendering the person unfit to perform duties as a member of the regular force or the Force, as the case may be,

    • (iv) [Repealed, 1992, c. 46, s. 98]

  • (c) is in receipt of a pension based on not less than

    • (i) twenty-six years of pensionable service, in the case of a person who has reached fifty-nine years of age but has not reached sixty years of age,

    • (ii) twenty-seven years of pensionable service, in the case of a person who has reached fifty-eight years of age but has not reached fifty-nine years of age,

    • (iii) twenty-eight years of pensionable service, in the case of a person who has reached fifty-seven years of age but has not reached fifty-eight years of age,

    • (iv) twenty-nine years of pensionable service, in the case of a person who has reached fifty-six years of age but has not reached fifty-seven years of age, or

    • (v) thirty years of pensionable service, in the case of a person who has reached fifty-five years of age but has not reached fifty-six years of age, or

  • (d) is in receipt of a pension by virtue of being a survivor or child; (prestataire)

  Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account

  Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account means the Account established pursuant to subsection 8(1); (compte de prestations de retraite supplémentaires)

  survivor

  survivor means a survivor or a surviving spouse within the meaning of the relevant enactment that is listed or described in Schedule I. (survivant)

• Marginal note:Calculation of amount of pension payable

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, the amount of the pension payable to a recipient

  • (a) under the Civil Service Superannuation Act, chapter 50 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1952, is the amount of the pension payable in respect of service in the Civil Service to the credit of the person to or in respect of whom the pension is payable under that Act, and

  • (b) [Repealed, 1992, c. 46, s. 98]

  • (c) under any other enactment listed or described in Schedule I, is the amount of the pension payable under that enactment,

  as increased by the Public Service Pension Adjustment Act, chapter P-33 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970.

• Meaning of expression pension based on not less than specified number of years of pensionable service

  (3) For the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition recipient in subsection (1), the expression pension based on not less than a specified number of years of pensionable service means

  • (a) a pension under the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act, chapter D-3 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, chapter R-10 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, based on not less than that number of years of service, as defined in the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, as the case may be; or

  • (b) a pension under the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act, based on not less than that number of years of service as a Public Official, as defined in that Act.

  • (c) to (e) [Repealed, 1992, c. 46, s. 98]

Supplementary Retirement Benefits

Marginal note:Benefit payable

3 Subject to this Act, a supplementary retirement benefit shall be paid to every recipient.

Marginal note:Calculation of benefit

• 4 (1) The supplementary retirement benefit payable to a recipient for a month in any year is an amount equal to the amount obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the amount of the pension payable to the recipient for that month

  by

  • (b) the ratio that the Benefit Index for that year bears to the Benefit Index for the retirement year of the person to or in respect of whom or in respect of whose service the pension is payable,

  and subtracting therefrom

  • (c) the amount of the pension payable to the recipient for that month.

• Marginal note:Benefit Index

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Benefit Index

  • (a) for any year set out in column I of Schedule II, is the figure set out in column II of that Schedule opposite that year; and

  • (b) for the year 1985 and each following year, shall be calculated in prescribed manner by multiplying

    • (i) the Benefit Index for the year immediately preceding that year

    by

    • (ii) the ratio that the Pension Index for that year bears to the Pension Index for the year immediately preceding that year.

• Marginal note:Exception for first year benefits received

  (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the supplementary retirement benefit payable to a recipient whose retirement year is 1982 or a later year, and who retires, or who is the survivor or a child of a person who retires, on or after June 22, 1982, for a month in the year immediately following the retirement year is the amount obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the amount of the supplementary retirement benefit that would, but for this subsection, be payable to the recipient for that month

    by

  • (b) the ratio that the number of complete months that remained in the retirement year after the retirement month bears to twelve.

• Marginal note:Exception for subsequent years

  (4) For the purposes of calculating the supplementary retirement benefit payable under subsection (1) to a recipient whose retirement year is 1982 or a later year, and who retires, or who is the survivor or a child of a person who retires, on or after June 22, 1982, for a month in any year following the year immediately following the retirement year,

  • (a) the amount of the pension payable to the recipient for that month referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall be deemed to be the aggregate of the amount of the pension payable to the recipient for that month and the amount of the supplementary retirement benefit for a month in the year immediately following his retirement year calculated pursuant to subsection (3), whether or not that amount was paid; and

  • (b) the Benefit Index for the retirement year shall be deemed to be the Benefit Index for the year immediately following his retirement year.

• Marginal note:Determination of retirement year or retirement month

  (5) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) the retirement year or retirement month of a person to or in respect of whom or in respect of whose service a pension is payable, other than a person referred to in paragraph (b), is the year or month, as the case may be, in which, for the purposes of the enactment pursuant to which the pension is payable, that person most recently ceased to be employed, to hold office, to be a member of the Senate or House of Commons or to be a member of the regular force or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as the case may be; and

  • (b) the retirement year or retirement month of a person who is in receipt of a pension by virtue of being a survivor or a child, is the retirement year or retirement month, as the case may be, of the person in respect of whom or in respect of whose service the pension is payable.

• (6) [Repealed, 1992, c. 46, s. 99]

• Marginal note:No decrease in amount of supplementary retirement benefit

  (7) Notwithstanding subsection (1) but subject to section 5, the aggregate of the amount of the supplementary retirement benefit and pension that may be paid to a recipient for a month in any year shall not be less than the aggregate of the amount of the supplementary retirement benefit and pension that was or may be paid to that recipient for any month in the year next before that year.

• Marginal note:Recipients for whom retirement year is 1976 or later

  (8) Notwithstanding subsections (1), (3), (4) and (7), but subject to section 5, the amount of the supplementary retirement benefit that may be paid for a month in any year to a recipient in respect of whom the retirement year determined pursuant to subsection (5) is 1976 or a later year shall be not less than the difference obtained by subtracting the amount of the pension that may be paid to him for that month in that year from the aggregate of the supplementary retirement benefit and maximum pension that would have been payable to that recipient for that month in that year, other than pursuant to this subsection, if the retirement month of the retirement year of the recipient had been that month in that year, being a year after 1974, as is determined by

  • (a) the Governor in Council, in the case of a person to or in respect of whom the pension is payable on ceasing to hold an office to which he was appointed by the Governor in Council; and

  • (b) the Treasury Board, in the case of a person other than a person described in paragraph (a).

Marginal note:Manner of payment of benefit

5 The supplementary retirement benefit payable to a recipient shall be paid at the same times, in the same manner, during or in respect of the same periods and subject to the same terms and conditions as the pension payable to that recipient.

Return of Contributions

Marginal note:Return of contributions and minimum benefit

• 6 (1) Where a person who has contributed to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account pursuant to any enactment listed or described in Schedule I, in this section referred to as the “contributor”,

  • (a) ceases to contribute to that Account and no pension is or will become payable to or in respect of that person, that person shall be paid an amount equal to the aggregate of all amounts contributed by that person to that Account, together with interest, if any, calculated pursuant to subsection (2); or

  • (b) dies and there is no person to whom a supplementary retirement benefit may be paid in respect of the contributor, or the persons to whom such a benefit may be paid die or cease to be entitled to a pension and no other amount may be paid to them under this Act, any amount by which the aggregate of

    • (i) all amounts contributed by the contributor to that Account, together with interest, if any, calculated pursuant to subsection (2), and

    • (ii) all amounts that may be paid to or in respect of him as a return of contributions, withdrawal allowance or death benefit pursuant to any enactment listed or described in Schedule I,

    exceeds the aggregate of all amounts paid to those persons and to the contributor under this Act and any enactment listed or described in Schedule I shall be paid, as a death benefit, to the contributor’s estate or, if less than one thousand dollars, as the Minister may direct.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (2) Where, at any time after December 31, 1974, a contributor ceases to contribute in respect of current service to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account, the Minister shall

  • (a) determine the aggregate of all amounts that have been contributed by the contributor to that Account

    • (i) prior to 1974, and

    • (ii) during each year, in this subsection called a “contribution year”, subsequent to 1973 in which contributions were made by or on behalf of the contributor to that Account,

    and that have not previously been paid to him as a return of contributions or otherwise; and

  • (b) calculate interest at the rate of four per cent compounded annually

    • (i) on the aggregate amount determined in respect of the period referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), from December 31, 1973 to December 31 of the year immediately preceding the year in which he ceased to contribute in respect of current service to that Account, and

    • (ii) on the aggregate amount determined in respect of each contribution year referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii), from December 31 of that year to December 31 of the year immediately preceding the year in which he ceased to contribute in respect of current service to that Account.

• (3) [Repealed, 1992, c. 46, s. 100]

Recoveries

Marginal note:Recovery of overpayments

7 Where any amount has been paid in error under this Act on account of any supplementary retirement benefit, the Minister may retain by way of deduction in prescribed manner from any subsequent payments of that supplementary retirement benefit or of the pension by reference to which that benefit is calculated an amount equal to the amount paid in error, without prejudice to any other recourse available to Her Majesty with respect to the recovery thereof.

Financial Provisions

Marginal note:Account established

• 8 (1) There is hereby established in the accounts of Canada an account to be known as the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account.

• Marginal note:Amounts payable out of C.R.F.

  (2) All benefits and other amounts required to be paid pursuant to this Act shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and, except in the case of

  • (a) any benefit calculated by reference to a pension payable for any month after December, 1973 to or in respect of a person or in respect of the service of a person whose retirement year, determined as provided in subsection 4(5), is before 1970,

  • (b) the amount by which any benefit calculated by reference to a pension payable for any month after December, 1973 to or in respect of a person or in respect of the service of a person whose retirement year, determined as provided in subsection 4(5), is after 1969 exceeds the aggregate of all amounts credited to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account in respect of that person, including such portion of any interest credited to that Account as may reasonably be regarded as having been credited thereto in respect of that person, and

  • (c) any benefit calculated by reference to an annuity payable under the Governor General’s Act or the Judges Act,

  shall be charged to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account.

Marginal note:Interest to be credited to Account

9 There shall be credited to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account in each fiscal year an amount representing interest on the balance from time to time to the credit of that Account calculated at such rate as may be fixed by the Treasury Board.

General

Marginal note:Regulations

10 The Minister may make regulations prescribing

• (a) for the purposes of the definition Pension Index, the manner of calculating the average of the Consumer Price Index for any period;

• (b) for the purposes of paragraph 4(2)(b), the manner of calculating the Benefit Index and the manner of calculating any ratio referred to in that paragraph; and

• (c) the manner in which amounts referred to in section 7 may be deducted from any supplementary retirement benefit or pension.

Marginal note:Where basis of Consumer Price Index changed

11 Where at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is adjusted to reflect a new time basis or a new content basis with a resulting percentage adjustment being made in the figures for that Index, a corresponding adjustment shall be made in the Pension Index with respect to any period that is used for the purpose of calculating the amount of any benefit that may be paid under this Act.

Marginal note:Annual report

12 The Minister shall lay before Parliament each year a report on the administration of this Act during the preceding fiscal year, including a statement showing the amounts paid into and out of the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account during that year, together with such additional information as the Governor in Council requires.