Canadian Human Rights Benefit Regulations

4 The following provisions of a pension plan do not constitute the basis for a complaint under Part III of the Act that an employer is engaging or has engaged in a discriminatory practice:

• (a) provisions that result in eligibility for various benefits under the plan being subject to the attainment by a person of specified ages;

• (b) provisions that result in differentiation being made between employees in the amounts of the monthly or other periodic benefits payable under the plan to or in respect of the employees,

  • (i) because of age, where such differentiation is determined on an actuarial basis, or because of an adjustment that recognizes the availability of benefits payable under the Canada Pension Plan, the Old Age Security Act or a provincial pension plan as defined in section 3 of the Canada Pension Plan, where the adjustment is permitted under and is made in accordance with the Pension Benefits Standards Act and any regulations thereunder,

  • (ii) because of marital status, where

    • (A) benefits are payable periodically to the surviving spouse of a deceased employee, or

    • (B) an increase in benefits is payable to a former employee because the employee has a dependent spouse, or

  • (iii) because of family status, where benefits are payable periodically to or in respect of a surviving child of a deceased employee;

• (c) provisions that result in differentiation being made between employees

  • (i) because of marital status, where a lump sum benefit is payable under the plan to the surviving spouse of a deceased employee, or

  • (ii) because of family status, where a lump sum benefit is payable under the plan to or in respect of a surviving child of a deceased employee;

• (d) in the case of any voluntary employee-pay-all pension plan or any pension plan that has a voluntary employee contribution feature, provisions of such a plan respecting voluntary employee contributions that result in differentiation being made between employees in the amounts of the benefits provided under the plan to or in respect of the employees because of sex, where such differentiation is determined on an actuarial basis;

• (e) provisions that result in differentiation being made between employees when benefits payable under the plan to or in respect of the employees are converted under an option contained therein, in the amounts of those benefits because of sex, where such differentiation is determined on an actuarial basis;

• (e.1) provisions that result in an employee being unable to exercise an option under the plan to convert the benefits payable thereunder to or in respect of that employee to benefits of another type or of an amount other than the amount of the benefits payable under the plan because that employee did not satisfy the requirements in respect of health in order to exercise that option; and

• (f) provisions that result in no differentiation being made between employees in the amounts of the benefits payable under the plan to or in respect of the employees on any ground of discrimination referred to in section 3 of the Act, other than the differentiation referred to in paragraphs (a) to (e), or the differentiation that results from the provisions of a benefit plan referred to in section 3.