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Canada Pension Plan Regulations (C.R.C., c. 385)

Regulations are current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2021-06-23. Previous Versions

PART IIIEmployment Included in or Excepted from Pensionable Employment by Regulation (continued)

Directors Resident Outside Canada

 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, the employment of a person

  • (a) who is not ordinarily resident in Canada, and

  • (b) who is an employee within the meaning of the definition employee in subsection 2(1) of the Act by virtue only of his position as a corporation director,

is excepted from pensionable employment if his employment as such director is performed wholly or partly outside of Canada.

Employment by a Province or an Agent of a Province

  •  (1) Employment by Her Majesty in right of a province set out in Schedule III and employment by an agent of Her Majesty in right of that province, except employment by an agent thereof who is specified in Schedule IV and any employment by Her Majesty in right of the province that is set out in that Schedule, is included in pensionable employment.

  • (2) Employment by Her Majesty in right of a province providing a comprehensive pension plan and employment by an agent of Her Majesty in right of that province is included in pensionable employment if such employment is pensionable employment under the provincial pension plan of that province.

  • (3) Where employment by Her Majesty in right of a province providing a comprehensive pension plan or by an agent of Her Majesty in right of that province is included in pensionable employment by virtue of subsection (2), the provisions of the Act with respect to the making of contributions by employees and employers in respect of pensionable employment and the provisions of Part III of the Act with respect to employees in pensionable employment do not apply in relation to any employment by Her Majesty in right of that province or by an agent of Her Majesty in right of that province, whether such employment is within or without the province.

Employment by an International Organization

 Employment in Canada by an international organization set out in Schedule V, except employment by that international organization that is set out in Schedule VI, is included in pensionable employment.

Employment by a Country Other than Canada

 Employment in Canada by the government of a country other than Canada set out in Schedule VII, except employment by such government that is set out in Schedule VIII, is included in pensionable employment.

Employment of a Member of a Religious Order Who has Taken a Vow of Perpetual Poverty

 Employment referred to in paragraph 6(2)(e) of the Act is included in pensionable employment if such employment

  • (a) is in a province providing a comprehensive pension plan; and

  • (b) is pensionable under the provincial pension plan of that province.

Employment to an Inconsiderable Extent

  •  (1) Subject to subsections (3) to (5), employment in which persons are ordinarily employed to an inconsiderable extent is excepted from pensionable employment.

  • (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), employment in which persons are ordinarily employed to an inconsiderable extent means

    • (a) employment in

      • (i) abating a disaster, or

      • (ii) a rescue operation,

      if the person so employed is not in the regular employment of the employer who so employs him;

    • (b) employment, other than as an entertainer, at a circus, fair, parade, carnival, exposition, exhibition or other like activity, if the person so employed

      • (i) is not in the regular employment of the employer who so employs him, and

      • (ii) is so employed by the employer for less than seven days in the year; or

    • (c) [Repealed, SOR/99-23, s. 1]

    • (d) employment of a person by the Government of Canada, the government of a province, a municipality or a school board in connection with a referendum or election to public office, if the person

      • (i) is not regularly employed by that employer, and

      • (ii) is employed by that employer in that employment for less than 35 hours in a year.

  • (3) Where an employment that has been excluded from pensionable employment under paragraph (2)(b) or (d) becomes a regular employment, the employment is pensionable employment beginning on the day or at the hour, as the case may be, that the employment became a regular employment.

  • (4) Where a person has been employed by the same employer in one or more employments that have been excluded from pensionable employment under paragraph (2)(b) and the total period of those employments exceeds six days in the same year, the employments, taken together, constitute pensionable employment beginning on the first day of the total period.

  • (5) Where a person has been employed by the same employer in one or more employments that have been excluded from pensionable employment under paragraph (2)(d) and the total period of those employments exceeds 34 hours in the same year, the employments, taken together, constitute pensionable employment beginning at the first hour of the total period.

  • SOR/99-23, s. 1

Pensionable Employment

 Pensionable employment includes employment in Canada that is excepted from pensionable employment by virtue of

  • (a) section 28, or

  • (b) paragraph 6(2)(a), 6(2)(b) or 6(2)(j) of the Act

of an employee in a year who

  • (c) is resident in Canada in the year for the purposes of the Income Tax Act;

  • (d) is not, in respect of that employment, in pensionable employment by virtue of any other provision of the Act or these Regulations;

  • (e) elects in accordance with subsection 13(3) of the Act for the purposes of section 10 thereof; and

  • (f) pays the contributions referred to in section 10 of the Act within one year after April 30 of the following year or within one year after the day on which an amount is refunded to the employee under section 38 of the Act.

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), pensionable employment includes the employment of an Indian, as defined in the Indian Act, in Canada in a year, to the extent the employment is excepted from pensionable employment solely pursuant to paragraph 6(2)(j.1) of the Act if

    • (a) the Indian is resident in Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act; and

    • (b) the employer of the Indian elects, by completing the form authorized by the Minister for such purpose, that, from the date of filing the form with the Minister or such later date as the employer specifies in the form, the employment of each Indian employee of the employer whose employment is not excepted from pensionable employment by other than paragraph 6(2)(j.1) of the Act is pensionable employment.

  • (2) Where an employer does not make the election referred to in paragraph (1)(b), the employment of an Indian, as defined in the Indian Act, in a year in Canada, to the extent the employment is excepted from pensionable employment solely pursuant to paragraph 6(2)(j.1) of the Act, may be included in pensionable employment if

    • (a) the Indian is resident in Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act;

    • (b) the employment is not pensionable employment by virtue of any other provision of the Act or these Regulations;

    • (c) the Indian makes an election in accordance with subsection 13(3) of the Act; and

    • (d) the Indian pays the contributions referred to in section 10 of the Act within one year after April 30 of the following year or within one year after the day on which an amount is refunded to the employee under section 38 of the Act.

 Pensionable employment includes employment in Canada, that is excepted from pensionable employment by virtue of subsection 22(1), of an employee in a year by an employer who

  • (a) is not resident in Canada, and

  • (b) does not have an establishment in Canada,

if the employee complies with the requirements of paragraphs 29(c) to (f) in respect of the year.

 Pensionable employment includes employment in international transportation, that is excepted from pensionable employment by virtue of subsection 17(2), of an employee in a year if the employee complies with the requirements of paragraphs 29(c) to (f) in respect of the year and is not required in respect of that employment to contribute to a similar plan under the laws of a country other than Canada.

 Pensionable employment includes employment outside Canada in a year that would be pensionable employment if it were in Canada in the year, of an employee if the employee complies with the requirements of paragraphs 29(c) to (f) in respect of the year and is not required in respect of that employment to contribute to a similar plan under the laws of the country in which he is employed.

 For greater certainty, where the employment of an employee is, by virtue of the employee’s compliance with the requirements of paragraphs 29(c) to (f) included in a pensionable employment under any of sections 29 to 32, the employer of that employee is not required to pay an employer’s contribution in respect of the employment.

  •  (1) Where any individual is placed by a placement or employment agency in employment with or for performance of services for a client of the agency and the terms or conditions on which the employment or services are performed and the remuneration thereof is paid constitute a contract of service or are analogous to a contract of service, the employment or performance of services is included in pensionable employment and the agency or the client, whichever pays the remuneration to the individual, shall, for the purposes of maintaining records and filing returns and paying, deducting and remitting contributions payable by and in respect of the individual under the Act and these Regulations, be deemed to be the employer of the individual.

  • (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), placement or employment agency includes any person or organization that is engaged in the business of placing individuals in employment or for performance of services or of securing employment for individuals for a fee, reward or other remuneration.

  •  (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part

    • (a) subject to paragraphs 6(2)(a) to (i), (j.1) and (k) of the Act, if by virtue of any of the circumstances described in an agreement entered into under subsection 107(1) of the Act the legislation of Canada applies to a person in any year, the employment of that person in those circumstances is included in pensionable employment for that year, if

      • (i) his employer is an employer operating in Canada within the meaning given to that term by subsection 15(1),

      • (ii) his employer has, in respect of that employment, given an undertaking in prescribed form to pay the employee’s contributions and the employer’s contributions under sections 8 and 9 respectively, of the Act for the year and to file information returns in accordance with Part II, or

      • (iii) in any case where his employer is not an employer operating in Canada and has not given the undertaking described in subparagraph (ii) or has not complied with the undertaking in the year, that person complies with the requirements of paragraphs 29(c) to (f) in respect of that year; and

    • (b) where by virtue of any of the circumstances described in an agreement entered into under subsection 107(1) of the Act the legislation of the other country that is a party to the agreement applies to a person in any year, the employment of that person in those circumstances is excepted from pensionable employment for that year.

  • (2) Paragraph 15(1)(b) of the Act does not apply in respect of the employment of a person in employment that is included in pensionable employment by virtue of subparagraph (1)(a)(ii).

  • (3) For the purposes of this section, legislation has the meaning assigned to that term by the applicable agreement.

  • SOR/80-877, s. 1
  • SOR/90-829, s. 7
  • SOR/96-522, s. 2
  • SOR/2013-208, s. 8(F)
  • SOR/2015-158, s. 1

PART IVPrescribed Interest Rates and Refunds of Overpayment

 Where

  • (a) an amount in respect of an overpayment of contributions is refunded to an employee or a self-employed person or applied to a liability of the employee or self-employed person to Her Majesty in right of Canada, interest to be paid or applied under subsection 38(7) of the Act shall be calculated at the rate prescribed in paragraph 36(2)(b) and for the period that begins on the latest of

    • (i) May 1 of the year following the year for which the contributions were paid,

    • (ii) the day on which the application for the refund was received, and

    • (iii) the day on which the overpayment arose,

    and ends on the day on which the amount is so refunded or applied; and

  • (b) an amount in respect of an overpayment is refunded to an employer or applied to a liability of the employer to Her Majesty in right of Canada, interest to be paid or applied under subsection 38(7) of the Act shall be calculated at the rate prescribed in paragraph 36(2)(b) and for the period that begins on the later of

    • (i) the day on which the remittance that created the overpayment was received, and

    • (ii) the day on which the remittance that created the overpayment was due to be received,

    and ends on the day on which the amount is so refunded or applied.

  • SOR/79-141, s. 1
  • SOR/90-829, s. 8
  • SOR/95-287, s. 1
  •  (1) For the purposes of subsection (2), quarter means any of the following periods in a year:

    • (a) the period that begins on January 1 and ends on March 31;

    • (b) the period that begins on April 1 and ends on June 30;

    • (c) the period that begins on July 1 and ends on September 30; and

    • (d) the period that begins on October 1 and ends on December 31.

  • (2) For the purposes of

    • (a) every provision of the Act that requires interest at a prescribed rate to be paid to the Receiver General, the prescribed rate in effect during any particular quarter is the total of

      • (i) the rate that is the simple arithmetic mean, expressed as a percentage per annum and rounded to the next higher whole percentage where the mean is not a whole percentage, of all amounts each of which is the average equivalent yield, expressed as a percentage per annum, of Government of Canada Treasury Bills that mature approximately three months after their date of issue and that are sold at auctions of Government of Canada Treasury Bills during the first month of the quarter preceding the particular quarter, and

      • (ii) 4 per cent; and

    • (b) every provision of the Act that requires interest at a prescribed rate to be paid or applied on an amount payable by the Minister, the prescribed rate in effect during any particular quarter is the total of

      • (i) the rate determined under subparagraph (a)(i) in respect of the particular quarter, and

      • (ii) if the amount is payable to a corporation, zero per cent, and in any other case, 2 per cent.

  • SOR/79-141, s. 2
  • SOR/79-957, s. 1
  • SOR/80-930, s. 1
  • SOR/81-1029, s. 1
  • SOR/82-321, s. 1
  • SOR/82-597, s. 1
  • SOR/82-1096, s. 1
  • SOR/83-238, s. 1
  • SOR/84-459, s. 1
  • SOR/90-829, s. 9
  • SOR/95-287, s. 1
  • SOR/97-557, s. 1
  • 2010, c. 12, s. 34
 

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