Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. M-5)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  annual allowance

  annual allowance means an annual allowance payable to a member under section 62, 62.3 or 62.4 of the Parliament of Canada Act or payable to a member under an appropriation Act as Deputy Chair or Assistant Deputy Chair of a committee. (indemnité annuelle)

  average annual pensionable earnings

  average annual pensionable earnings, with respect to any member, means the average annual pensionable earnings received as a member during any five-year period of pensionable service selected by or on behalf of the member, or during any period so selected consisting of consecutive periods of pensionable service totalling five years. (moyenne annuelle des gains ouvrant droit à pension)

  average annual sessional indemnity

  average annual sessional indemnity, with respect to any member, means the average annual sessional indemnity received as a member during any five year period of pensionable service selected by or on behalf of the member, or during any period so selected consisting of consecutive periods of pensionable service totalling five years. (moyenne annuelle de l’indemnité de session)

  average maximum pensionable earnings

  average maximum pensionable earnings, with respect to any former member, means the average of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Pension Plan, for the earlier of the years referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), and for each of the four years preceding that earlier year,

  • (a) the year in which the former member ceased to be a member, and

  • (b) the year in which the former member becomes entitled to receive a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or under a similar provincial pension plan. (moyenne des maximums des gains ouvrant droit à pension)

  Chief Actuary

  Chief Actuary means the Chief Actuary of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. (actuaire en chef)

  child

  child means a child or stepchild of — or an individual adopted either legally or in fact by — a member or former member who

  • (a) is less than eighteen years of age, or

  • (b) is eighteen years of age or older but less than twenty-five years of age, and is in full-time attendance at a school or university within the meaning provided for that expression by the regulations, having been in such attendance substantially without interruption since the child reached eighteen years of age or the member or former member died, whichever occurred later. (enfant)

  Compensation Arrangements Account

  Compensation Arrangements Account means the Members of Parliament Retirement Compensation Arrangements Account established by section 27. (compte de convention)

  defined benefit limit

  defined benefit limit means

  • (a) in respect of a calendar year before 1995, $1,722.22, and

  • (b) in respect of the 1995 calendar year and any subsequent calendar year, the amount prescribed. (plafond des prestations déterminées)

  earnings limit

  earnings limit, in relation to a member in respect of one or more sessions in any calendar year, means

  • (a) for any calendar year before 2016, the amount in respect of which benefits may be accrued during that calendar year for the purposes of a registered pension plan within the meaning of the Income Tax Act, determined by dividing the defined benefit limit in respect of that calendar year by 0.02, and

  • (b) for 2016 and subsequent calendar years, the amount determined by the following formula, rounded to the next highest multiple of $100:

    [(A – (B × C)) / 0.02] + C

    where

    A

    is the the amount determined for the calendar year in accordance with the definition defined benefit limit in subsection 8500(1) of the Income Tax Regulations,

    B

    is the number fixed by the Chief Actuary under subsection (6), and

    C

    is the amount of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Pension Plan, for that calendar year. (gains maximums)

  former Act

  former Act means this Act as it read on December 31, 1991. (version antérieure)

  joint and survivor benefit

  joint and survivor benefit[Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 176]

  member

  member means a member of the Senate or House of Commons. (parlementaire)

  Minister

  Minister means the President of the Treasury Board. (ministre)

  pensionable earnings

  pensionable earnings, with respect to any member in respect of any calendar year, means the aggregate of

  • (a) his or her sessional indemnity for the year,

  • (b) any annual allowance payable to him or her in respect of the year, and

  • (c) any salary payable to the member in respect of the year. (gains ouvrant droit à pension)

  prescribed

  prescribed means prescribed by regulation. (Version anglaise seulement)

  reduction factor

  reduction factor, with respect to any former member, means the number determined by the calculation referred to in the description of D in subsection 37.3(2). (facteur de réduction)

  Retiring Allowances Account

  Retiring Allowances Account means the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Account continued by section 3. (compte d’allocations)

  salary

  salary means a salary payable to a member pursuant to section 4 or 4.1 of the Salaries Act or section 60, 61, 62.1 or 62.2 of the Parliament of Canada Act, or payable to a member pursuant to an appropriation Act as a minister of state or a minister without portfolio. (traitement)

  session

  session means a session of Parliament. (session)

  sessional indemnity

  sessional indemnity means

  • (a) in relation to a period before October 8, 1970, the allowances payable to a member under section 55 and subsection 63(3) of the Parliament of Canada Act, as that subsection read immediately before the coming into force of this paragraph,

  • (b) in relation to a period after October 7, 1970 and before July 8, 1974,

    • (i) in the case of a member of the Senate, five sixths of the allowance payable to the member under section 55 of the Parliament of Canada Act, and

    • (ii) in the case of a member of the House of Commons, the allowance payable to the member under section 55 of the Parliament of Canada Act, and

  • (c) in relation to a period after July 7, 1974, the allowance payable to a member under section 55 or 55.1 of the Parliament of Canada Act. (indemnité de session)

  survivor

  survivor, in relation to a member or former member, means

  • (a) a person who was married

    • (i) in the case of a member or former member, to the member or former member immediately before his or her death, and

    • (ii) in the case of a former member, to the former member immediately before the time when he or she ceased to be a member, or

  • (b) a person who establishes that the person was cohabiting in a relationship of a conjugal nature

    • (i) in the case of a member or former member, with the member or former member for at least one year immediately before his or her death, and

    • (ii) in the case of a former member, with the former member before he or she ceased to be a member. (survivant)

• Marginal note:Calculation of average annual sessional indemnity

  (2) For the purposes of calculating a member’s average annual sessional indemnity, any period during which he or she is, by virtue of paragraph 12(1)(b) or (c) or 34(1)(b), as it read immediately before January 1, 2013, prohibited from contributing in respect of the sessional indemnity payable to him or her is deemed to be a period of pensionable service to the member’s credit.

• Marginal note:Calculation of average annual sessional indemnity

  (2.1) For the purposes of calculating a member’s average annual sessional indemnity, any period during which he or she is required to make contributions under subsection 12(2) or would be required to contribute under that subsection if he or she were under 71 years of age is deemed to be a period of pensionable service to the member’s credit.

• Marginal note:Calculation of average annual pensionable earnings

  (2.2) For the purposes of calculating a member’s average annual pensionable earnings, any period during which he or she is required to make contributions under subsection 12(2.1) or would be required to contribute under that subsection if he or she were under 71 years of age is deemed to be a period of pensionable service to the member’s credit.

• Marginal note:Application of Parts I to V to members of Senate

  (3) For the purposes of Parts I to V, except section 58, a member of the Senate or a Senator means a person who was summoned to the Senate after June 1, 1965.

• Marginal note:Ceasing to be member

  (4) For the purposes of this Act,

  • (a) a person does not cease to be a member of the House of Commons by reason only of a dissolution of the House of Commons; and

  • (b) a person who, immediately before a dissolution of the House of Commons, was a member of that House ceases to be a member on the day on which the general election next following the dissolution is held, unless that person is

    • (i) summoned to the Senate before that general election, or

    • (ii) elected as a member at that general election.

• Marginal note:When allowances payable

  (5) For greater certainty, every allowance, other than a withdrawal allowance, payable to a person under this Act is an annuity that begins to be payable to the person immediately on that person becoming entitled to the allowance.

• Marginal note:Power to fix number

  (6) The Chief Actuary may, taking into account the percentage fixed for the purposes of subsection 17.1(2), fix a number for the purpose of the description of B in paragraph (b) of the definition earnings limit in subsection (1).

Election to Continue or Come Under Act

Marginal note:Continuing under Act

• 2.1 (1) A member of the House of Commons in the thirty-fifth Parliament who is contributing under subsection 9(1) or (2), 11(1), 12(2), 31(1), (2) or (3), 33(1) or (2) or 34(2) or section 47 on the coming into force of this section may, within sixty days after the day on which this section comes into force, elect in accordance with subsection 56(2) to continue to contribute under all those provisions under which the member is contributing at the time of the election.

• Marginal note:Coming under Act

  (2) A person who, after the coming into force of this section, becomes a member of the House of Commons in the thirty-fifth Parliament may, within sixty days after the first day on which that House is sitting after that person becomes a member, elect in accordance with subsection 56(2) to contribute, from the day on which the person becomes a member, under such of subsections 9(1) and (2), 12(2), 31(1), (2) and (3) and 34(2) and section 47 as are otherwise applicable to the person.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who was entitled to make an election under subsection (1) and did not do so.

• Marginal note:Irrevocable

  (4) An election under this section is irrevocable.

• Marginal note:Deemed election

  (5) For the purposes of this Act,

  • (a) a member who, being entitled to make an election under subsection (1), dies before doing so is deemed to have elected immediately before the death to continue to contribute under all those provisions under which the member was contributing at that time; and

  • (b) a person who, being entitled to make an election under subsection (2), dies before doing so is deemed to have elected immediately before the death to contribute under such of the provisions of this Act as would otherwise be applicable to the person.

Marginal note:Application of Act to members making election

2.2 This Act continues to apply to a member who makes an election under section 2.1.

Marginal note:Application of Act to members not making election

• 2.3 (1) Subject to this section and sections 2.4 and 2.5, this Act ceases to apply to a member who, being entitled to make an election under section 2.1, does not do so.

• Marginal note:Withdrawal allowance

  (2) There shall be paid to a member referred to in subsection (1) a withdrawal allowance, in a lump sum, equal to the aggregate of

  • (a) the total amount of the contributions that the member has paid under this Act and Parts I, III and IV of the former Act, and

  • (b) the interest on those contributions that the member has paid under section 11 or paragraph 33(1)(c) or (2)(d) of this Act or under section 23 of the former Act.

• Marginal note:Reduction

  (3) The withdrawal allowance payable to a member who was a member for six or more years before October 25, 1993 shall be reduced by the amount of the contributions, and the interest thereon, that the member has paid in respect of pensionable service as a member before that date.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (4) Interest shall be paid on the amount of the withdrawal allowance and shall be calculated in accordance with subsection 63(2) as if a reference to paragraphs (2)(a) and (b) were included in paragraph 63(2)(a) and as if the references in that subsection to “the year in which the person ceased to be a member” were references to “the year in which the allowance became payable”.