Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  additional voluntary contribution

  cotisation facultative

  additional voluntary contribution under a pension plan means an optional contribution by a member that does not give rise to an obligation on the employer to make additional contributions; (cotisation facultative)

  administrator

  administrateur

  administrator, in relation to a pension plan, means the administrator referred to in section 7, and includes the replacement administrator appointed under subsection 29.1(1); (administrateur)

  cessation of membership

  fin de participation

  cessation of membership in a pension plan has the meaning assigned by subsection (2); (fin de participation)

  collective agreement

  convention collective

  collective agreement means an agreement in writing entered into between an employer and a bargaining agent containing provisions respecting terms and conditions of employment and related matters; (convention collective)

  common-law partner

  conjoint de fait

  common-law partner, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year; (conjoint de fait)

  common-law partnership

  union de fait

  common-law partnership means the relationship between two persons who are common-law partners of each other; (union de fait)

  continuous

  continu

  continuous, in relation to membership in a pension plan or to employment, means without regard to periods of temporary interruption of the membership or employment; (continu)

  deferred pension benefit

  prestation de pension différée

  deferred pension benefit means a pension benefit other than an immediate pension benefit; (prestation de pension différée)

  defined benefit plan

  régime à prestations déterminées

  defined benefit plan means a pension plan that is not a defined contribution plan; (régime à prestations déterminées)

  defined benefit provision

  disposition à prestations déterminées

  defined benefit provision means a provision of a pension plan under which pension benefits for a member are determined in any way other than that described in the definition defined contribution provision; (disposition à prestations déterminées)

  defined contribution plan

  régime à cotisations déterminées

  defined contribution plan means a pension plan that consists of defined contribution provisions and does not contain defined benefit provisions, other than

  • (a) a defined benefit provision relating to pension benefits accrued in respect of employment before the effective date of the pension plan, or

  • (b) a defined benefit provision that provides for a minimum pension benefit whose additional value is not significant in the Superintendent’s opinion; (régime à cotisations déterminées)

  defined contribution provision

  disposition à cotisations déterminées

  defined contribution provision means a provision of a pension plan under which pension benefits for a member are determined solely as a function of the amount of pension benefit that can be provided by

  • (a) contributions made by and on behalf of that member, and

  • (b) interest earnings and other gains and losses allocated to that member; (disposition à cotisations déterminées)

  designated province

  province désignée

  designated province means a province prescribed as a province in which there is in force a law substantially similar to this Act; (province désignée)

  electronic document

  document électronique

  electronic document means any form of representation of information or of concepts fixed in any medium by electronic, optical or other similar means that can be read or perceived by a person or by any means; (document électronique)

  employee

  salariés

  employee includes an officer; (salariés)

  employer

  employeur

  employer, in relation to an employee, means the person or organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, in respect of employment with which the employee receives his remuneration, and includes the successors or assigns of that person or organization; (employeur)

  employment

  emploi

  employment means the performance by an employee of work for remuneration for an employer under an express or implied contract of service or apprenticeship, and includes the tenure of an office; (emploi)

  former member

  participant ancien

  former member, in relation to a pension plan, means

  • (a) except in sections 9.2 and 24, a person who, on or after January 1, 1987, has either ceased membership in the plan or retired,

  • (a.1) in section 9.2, a person who has either ceased membership in the plan or retired and has not transferred their pension benefit credit under section 26 before termination of the plan, or

  • (b) in section 24, a person who, before, on or after January 1, 1987, has either ceased membership in the plan or retired; (participant ancien)

  full-time basis

  à temps plein

  full-time basis, in relation to an employee of a particular class, means engaged to work, throughout the year, all or substantially all of the normally scheduled hours of work established for persons in that class of employees; (à temps plein)

  immediate pension benefit

  prestation de pension immédiate

  immediate pension benefit means a pension benefit that is to commence within one year after the member becomes entitled to it; (prestation de pension immédiate)

  included employment

  emploi inclus

  included employment has the meaning assigned by section 4; (emploi inclus)

  information system

  système d’information

  information system means a system used to generate, send, receive, store or otherwise process an electronic document; (système d’information)

  joint and survivor pension benefit

  prestation réversible

  joint and survivor pension benefit means an immediate pension benefit that continues at least until the death of the member or former member or the death of the survivor of the member or former member, whichever occurs later; (prestation réversible)

  marriage

  marriage and remarriage[Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 254]

  member

  participant

  member, in relation to a pension plan, means a person who has become a member of the pension plan and has neither ceased membership in the plan nor retired; (participant)

  Minister

  ministre

  Minister means the Minister of Finance; (ministre)

  multi-employer pension plan

  régime interentreprises

  multi-employer pension plan means a pension plan organized and administered for employees of two or more employers who contribute to the plan pursuant to an agreement, by-law or statute, where the pension plan provides pension benefits that are determined by periods of employment with any or all of the participating employers, but does not include a pension plan where more than ninety-five per cent of the plan members are employed by participating employers who are incorporated and are affiliates within the meaning of the Canada Business Corporations Act; (régime interentreprises)

  multilateral agreement

  accord multilatéral

  multilateral agreement means an agreement entered into under subsection 6.1(1); (accord multilatéral)

  negotiated contribution plan

  régime à cotisations négociées

  negotiated contribution plan means a multi-employer pension plan that includes at least one defined benefit provision and under which a participating employer’s contributions are limited to an amount determined in accordance with an agreement entered into by the participating employers or a collective agreement, statute or regulation, and which amount does not vary as a function of the prescribed tests and standards for solvency referred to in subsection 9(1); (régime à cotisations négociées)

  office and officer

  fonctions et cadre

  office means the position of an individual entitling that individual to a fixed or ascertainable stipend or remuneration, and includes the position of an officer or director of a corporation or other organization and of an agent acting for a principal, and officer means a person holding such a position; (fonctions et cadre)

  participating employer

  employeur participant

  participating employer, in relation to a multi-employer pension plan, means an employer who is required to contribute to that plan; (employeur participant)

  part-time basis

  à temps partiel

  part-time basis, in relation to an employee, means engaged to work on other than a full-time basis; (à temps partiel)

  pension benefit

  prestation de pension

  pension benefit means a periodic amount to which, under the terms of a pension plan, a member or former member, or the spouse, common-law partner, survivor or other beneficiary or estate or succession of a member or former member, is or may become entitled; (prestation de pension)

  pension benefit credit

  droit à pension

  pension benefit credit, in relation to any person, means the aggregate value at a particular time of that person’s pension benefit and other benefits provided under a pension plan, calculated in prescribed manner; (droit à pension)

  pension fund

  fonds de pension

  pension fund, in relation to a pension plan, means a fund maintained to provide benefits under or related to the pension plan; (fonds de pension)

  pension plan

  régime de pension

  pension plan has the meaning assigned by subsection 4(2); (régime de pension)

  pensionable age

  âge admissible

  pensionable age, in relation to a member, means the earliest age (taking into account the period of employment with the employer or the period of membership in the pension plan, if applicable) at which a pension benefit, other than a benefit in respect of a disability (as defined in the regulations), is payable to the member under the terms of the pension plan without the consent of the administrator and without reduction by reason of early retirement; (âge admissible)

  prescribed

  Version anglaise seulement

  prescribed means prescribed by regulation; (Version anglaise seulement)

  registered pension plan

  régime agréé

  registered pension plan means a pension plan that is registered and in respect of which a certificate of registration has been issued by the Superintendent under this Act; (régime agréé)

  retire

  retraite

  retire has the meaning assigned by subsection (3); (retraite)

  spouse

  époux

  spouse, in relation to an individual, includes a person who is party to a void or, in Quebec, null marriage with the individual; (époux)

  standards for registration

  standards for registration[Repealed, 1998, c. 12, s. 1]

  Superintendent

  surintendant

  Superintendent means the Superintendent of Financial Institutions appointed pursuant to subsection 5(1) of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act; (surintendant)

  surplus

  excédent

  surplus means the amount, determined in the prescribed manner, by which the assets of a pension plan exceed its liabilities; (excédent)

  survivor

  survivant

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

  • (a) if there is no person described in paragraph (b), the spouse of the member or former member at the time of the member’s or former member’s death, or

  • (b) a person who was the common-law partner of the member or former member at the time of the member’s or former member’s death; (survivant)

  termination

  cessation

  termination, in relation to a pension plan, means the cessation of crediting of benefits to plan members generally, and includes the situations described in subsections 29(1) and (2); (cessation)

  winding-up

  liquidation

  winding-up, in relation to a pension plan, means the distribution of the assets of a pension plan that has been terminated; (liquidation)

  Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings

  maximum des gains annuels ouvrant droit à pension

  Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings has the same meaning as in the Canada Pension Plan. (maximum des gains annuels ouvrant droit à pension)

• Marginal note:Cessation of membership in a pension plan

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, a member of a pension plan shall be deemed to cease membership in the plan

  • (a) in the case of a multi-employer pension plan, when no contributions have been made in respect of that member by any of the participating employers for a period of twenty-four months, or such shorter period as is provided under the plan, and the member is not in receipt of an immediate pension benefit;

  • (b) in the case of any other pension plan, when the member’s employment with the employer terminates and the member is not in receipt of an immediate pension benefit, whether or not contributions by the employer in respect of that member had ceased previously; or

  • (c) in any other prescribed circumstance.

• Meaning of retire

  (3) For the purposes of this Act, a member of a pension plan shall be deemed to retire on commencing to receive an immediate pension benefit, whether the member’s employment has terminated or not.

• Marginal note:How “spouse or common-law partner” to be read

  (4) Except in section 25, where a member or former member has a spouse from whom they are separated and a common-law partner with whom they are cohabiting, a reference to a “spouse or common-law partner” in respect of that member or former member means the common-law partner.

• Marginal note:Negotiated contribution plan

  (5) Even though a pension plan — established as a negotiated contribution plan — is no longer a negotiated contribution plan because it has only one participating employer or more than 95% of its members are employed by participating employers who are incorporated and are affiliates within the meaning of the Canada Business Corporations Act, that pension plan is deemed to be a negotiated contribution plan for a period of one year after the day it is no longer a negotiated contribution plan, or for any longer period that may be specified by the Superintendent.