Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985

11.2 (1) For the purposes of subsection 7(2) of the Act, the administrator of a simplified pension plan is the financial institution that has entered into the contract establishing the plan.

(2) The contributions made to the fund established in respect of a simplified pension plan, the investments in which pension money is invested and the returns on those contributions and investments constitute the plan’s pension fund and shall not at any time constitute assets of the administrator or employer.

(3) The participation of any employer in a simplified pension plan will cease if the employer fails to remit the contributions required by the contract within the period specified in the contract.

(4) If there is more than one participating employer in a plan, the cessation of participation by one or more employers in the plan does not constitute a termination, in whole or in part, of the plan.

(5) If an employer ceases participation in a plan, all benefits shall be vested without regard to age, period of membership in the plan or period of employment and payment of all accrued or payable benefits under the plan as of the date of cessation shall be made to members and former members and to their spouses, common-law partners, beneficiaries, estates or successions.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph 2(2)(c) of the Act, a member of a simplified pension plan ceases to be a member of the plan in any of the following circumstances:

• (a) the participation of the member’s employer in the plan ceases; or

• (b) the administrator terminates the plan or the part of the plan in which the member participates.