Proclamation Amending the Agreement on Social Security Between Canada and the Republic of Finland in Force January 1, 1997 (SI/96-120)

ProtocolAmending the Agreement on Social Security between Canada and the Republic of Finland

The Government of Canada

and

the Government of the Republic of Finland,

Noting the Agreement on Social Security between Canada and the Republic of Finland, signed at Ottawa on 28 October 1986,

Desiring to strengthen even further the relations between them in the field of social security, and

Taking into account changes in legislation since the signing of the Agreement,

Have decided to conclude a Protocol to amend the Agreement, and, to this end,

Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE I

For the purposes of this Protocol:

• (a) Agreement means the Agreement on Social Security between Canada and the Republic of Finland, signed at Ottawa on 28 October 1986;

• (b) Final Protocol means the Final Protocol to the Agreement;

• (c) provisions previously applied means the provisions of the Agreement before the entry into force of this Protocol;

• (d) any other term has the meaning given to it in the Agreement.

ARTICLE II

Sub-paragraph 1(a) of Article I of the Agreement is amended by deleting the words “Minister of National Health and Welfare” and substituting the words “Minister of Employment and Immigration” in their place.

ARTICLE III

Sub-paragraph 1(b) of Article II of the Agreement is deleted and the following sub-paragraph substituted in its place:

ARTICLE IV

Article IV of the Agreement is amended by:

• (a) designating the existing text of Article IV as paragraph 1; and

• (b) adding, immediately after paragraph 1, the following paragraphs:

  • “2 In a case in which a benefit under the Employment Pensions Scheme of Finland would be payable by virtue of this Agreement to a citizen of Canada residing in the territory of Canada, that benefit shall be paid to a citizen of Canada residing in the territory of a third State on the same conditions and to the same extent as that benefit is payable to a citizen of Finland residing in the territory of that third State, provided that the third State is one with which Finland has concluded a social security agreement or a comparable instrument.

  • 3 Benefits under the legislation of Canada payable by virtue of this Agreement to a person who is or who has been subject to that legislation, or to the dependants or survivors of such a person, shall be paid in the territory of a third State.”

ARTICLE V

• 1 Paragraph 2 of Article V of the Agreement is deleted and the following paragraph substituted in its place:

  • “2 A person who:

    • (a) is employed by an employer who has a place of business in the territory of one Party,

    • (b) is covered under the legislation of that Party in respect of that employment, and

    • (c) is sent to perform services in the territory of the other Party in the course of that employment for the same or a related employer shall, in respect of those services, be subject only to the legislation of the first Party as though those services were performed in its territory. In the case of an assignment in the territory of the other Party, this coverage may not be maintained for more than 36 months without the prior consent of the competent authorities of both Parties.”

• 2 Article V of the Agreement is further amended by adding, immediately after paragraph 5, the following paragraph:

  • “6 The consent referred to in paragraph 2, and the agreement referred to in paragraph 5, may be given by an institution of a Party which has been authorized so to do by the competent authority of that Party.”

ARTICLE VI

Article VI of the Agreement is amended by:

• (a) deleting the title thereof and substituting the following title in its place:

  “Definition of Certain Periods of Residence with Respect to the Legislation of Canada and Finland”;

• (b) designating the existing text of Article VI as paragraph 1;

• (c) adding in paragraph 1, immediately after the words “For the purpose of calculating benefits under the Old Age Security Act”, the words “of Canada”; and

• (d) adding, immediately after paragraph 1, the following paragraph:

  • “2 For the purposes of the National Pensions Scheme of Finland:

    • (a) if a person is subject to the legislation of Finland during any period of residence in the territory of Canada, that period shall be accepted as a period of residence in Finland for that person as well as for that person’s accompanying spouse and dependants who reside with him or her and who are not subject to the Canada Pension Plan or to the comprehensive pension plan of a province of Canada by reason of employment;

    • (b) if a person is subject to the legislation of Canada during any period of residence in the territory of Finland, that period shall not be accepted as a period of residence in Finland for that person and for that person’s accompanying spouse and dependants who reside with him or her and who are not subject to the Employment Pensions Scheme of Finland by reason of employment.”

ARTICLE VII

Sub-paragraph 2(a) of Article VII of the Agreement is amended by adding, immediately after the words “For purposes of determining eligibility for a benefit under the Old Age Security Act,” the words “a creditable period under the legislation of Finland, or”.

ARTICLE VIII

Sub-paragraph 3(a) of Article VIII of the Agreement is amended by deleting the word “five” and substituting the word “three” in its place.

ARTICLE IX

Article IX of the Agreement is deleted and the following Article substituted in its place:

ARTICLE X

Chapter 2 of Part III of the Agreement is deleted and the following Chapter substituted in its place:

ARTICLE XI

• 1 Any creditable period completed before the date of entry into force of this Protocol shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining the right to a benefit under the Agreement as amended by this Protocol.

• 2 This Protocol shall not confer any right to receive payment of a benefit, or of part of a benefit, for a period before the date of entry into force of this Protocol.

• 3 Benefits under the Agreement as amended by this Protocol shall also be granted in respect of contingencies that occurred before the date of entry into force of this Protocol.

• 4 A benefit granted under the provisions previously applied shall not be subject to reduction or cancellation as a result of any provision of this Protocol.

• 5 A benefit granted under the provisions previously applied shall, at the request of the beneficiary, be converted to a benefit determined in conformity with the provisions of the Agreement as amended by this Protocol.

• 6 If, upon the entry into force of this Protocol, an application for a benefit under the legislation of a Party is pending, and if the competent institution of that Party subsequently determines that the applicant is entitled to that benefit both for a period before the date of entry into force of this Protocol and for a period after that date, that competent institution shall calculate the amount of benefit payable as follows:

  • (a) for any period before the date of entry into force of this Protocol, the amount of benefit payable shall be determined in conformity with the provisions previously applied; and

  • (b) for any period after the date of entry into force of this Protocol, the amount of benefit payable shall be re-determined in conformity with the provisions of the Agreement as amended by this Protocol, provided that the benefit, when so calculated, is more advantageous to the beneficiary than the benefit calculated under the provisions previously applied.

ARTICLE XII

The Final Protocol is amended by:

• (a) deleting, in sub-paragraph 1(b), the words “paragraph 2 of”;

• (b) deleting sub-paragraph 3(c) and substituting the following sub-paragraph in its place:

  “where an employed person is sent from the territory of one Party to perform services in the territory of the other Party as referred to in paragraph 2 of Article V of this Agreement, no contributions shall be payable under the legislation of the other Party in respect of earnings from that employment.”;

and

• (c) deleting, in paragraph 4, the words “Article IV and paragraph 1 of”.

ARTICLE XIII

• 1 This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following the month in which each Party shall have received written notification from the other Party that it has complied with all statutory requirements for the entry into force of this Protocol.

• 2 On the entry into force of this Protocol, any reference in the Agreement, the Final Protocol or this Protocol to “this Agreement” shall be taken to mean the Agreement as amended by this Protocol.

• 3 Subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, this Protocol shall remain in force without any limitation on its duration.

• 4 In the event of the denunciation of the Agreement through the application of paragraph 2 of Article XXI thereof, this Protocol shall also be denounced, with effect on the same date as the termination of the Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol.

EN FOI DE QUOI, les soussignés, dûment autorisés à cet effet par leurs Gouvernements respectifs ont signé le présent Protocole.

Done in two copies at Ottawa this 2^nd day of November, 1994, in the English, French and Finnish languages, each text being equally authentic.

Fait en deux exemplaires à Ottawa ce 2^e jour de novembre 1994 dans les langues française, anglaise et finnoise, chaque texte faisant également foi.

• FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
  • POUR LE GOUVERNEMENT DU CANADA
  • (Lloyd Axworthy)
• FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND
  • POUR LE GOUVERNEMENT DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE DE FINLANDE
  • (Jorma Huuhtanen)