Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 (SOR/87-19)

Information to Be Provided

22 The written explanation, information and written statement to be provided pursuant to paragraphs 28(1)(a) and (b) of the Act shall be addressed to the plan member or the employee and that person’s spouse or common-law partner as shown on the records of the administrator and shall be

• (a) given to the plan member or the employee at the place of employment; or

• (b) mailed to the residence of the plan member or employee.

22.1 For the purpose of subparagraph 28(1)(a)(ii) of the Act, the written explanation shall include, in the case of a negotiated contribution plan, a description of the funding arrangement, including an indication that

• (a) pension benefits or pension benefit credits may need to be reduced if negotiated contributions are insufficient to meet the funding requirements under the Act; and

• (b) the administrator may amend the plan to reduce, subject to the Superintendent’s authorization, pension benefits or pension benefit credits.

• 23 (1) The written statement to be provided in accordance with paragraph 28(1)(b) of the Act shall include

  • (a) the name of the plan member;

  • (b) the period to which the statement applies;

  • (c) the date of birth of the plan member;

  • (d) the period that has been credited to the plan member for the purpose of calculating the pension benefit of the plan member;

  • (e) the date on which the plan member attains pensionable age;

  • (f) the date on which the plan member is first entitled to an immediate pension benefit pursuant to subsection 16(2) of the Act;

  • (g) the name of the spouse or common-law partner of the plan member listed on the records of the administrator;

  • (h) the name of any person on the records of the administrator designated as the beneficiary of the pension benefit of the member;

  • (i) the additional voluntary contributions of the plan member made for the plan year and the accumulated additional voluntary contributions of the plan member as of the end of the plan year;

  • (j) the required contributions of the plan member made for the plan year and the accumulated required contributions of the plan member as of the end of the plan year;

  • (k) in the case of a plan with a defined contribution provision, the contributions of the employer in respect of the plan member made for the plan year and the accumulated contributions of the employer in respect of the plan member as of the end of the plan year;

  • (l) the amount of any funds transferred to the plan in respect of the plan member and the benefit under the plan attributable to that amount or the length of service credited to the plan member in respect of that amount;

  • (m) in the case of a plan other than a defined contribution plan,

    • (i) the annual amount of the pension benefit accrued in respect of the plan member at the end of the plan year and payable at pensionable age,

    • (ii) the total value of solvency assets and solvency liabilities of the plan on the valuation date, and

    • (iii) the total employer payments made to the plan for the plan year;

  • (n) if applicable, the interest rates credited to the contributions of the plan member for the plan year;

  • (o) the benefit payable on the death of the plan member and the extent to which that benefit would be reduced by a payment under a group life insurance plan;

  • (p) a statement setting out the right to access the documents described in paragraph 28(1)(c) of the Act;

  • (q) in respect of the defined benefit provisions of an uninsured defined benefit plan,

    • (i) if the ratio as calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) of the definition solvency ratio in subsection 2(1) is less than one,

      • (A) the value and description of the ratio, the valuation date and the date of the next valuation,

      • (B) except in the case of a negotiated contribution plan, a description of the measures the administrator has implemented or will implement to bring that ratio to one, and

      • (C) the extent to which the member’s benefit would be reduced if the plan were terminated and wound up with that solvency ratio; and

    • (ii) in any other case, the value and description of the ratio, the valuation date and the date of the next valuation;

  • (r) for the assets of a plan that are not held in respect of member choice accounts,

    • (i) a list of the 10 largest asset holdings based on market value, each expressed as a percentage of the total assets, and

    • (ii) the target asset allocation expressed as a percentage of the total assets; and

  • (s) in the case of a negotiated contribution plan, a description of the funding arrangement, including an indication that

    • (i) pension benefits or pension benefit credits may need to be reduced if negotiated contributions are insufficient to meet the funding requirements under the Act, and

    • (ii) the administrator may amend the plan to reduce, subject to the Superintendent’s authorization, pension benefits or pension benefit credits.

• (1.1) The written statement to be given in accordance with paragraph 28(1)(b.1) of the Act shall show

  • (a) the name of the former member;

  • (b) the period to which the statement applies;

  • (c) the name of the spouse or common-law partner of the former member listed on the records of the administrator;

  • (d) the name of any person on the records of the administrator designated as the beneficiary;

  • (e) in the case of a plan other than a defined contribution plan,

    • (i) the total employer payments made to the plan for the plan year, and

    • (ii) the total value of solvency assets and solvency liabilities of the plan on the valuation date;

  • (f) in respect of the defined benefit provisions of an uninsured defined benefit plan,

    • (i) if the ratio as calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) of the definition solvency ratio in subsection 2(1) is less than one,

      • (A) the value and description of the ratio, the valuation date and the date of the next valuation,

      • (B) except in the case of a negotiated contribution plan, a description of the measures the administrator has implemented or will implement to bring that ratio to one, and

      • (C) the extent to which the former member’s benefit would be reduced if the plan were terminated and wound up with that solvency ratio, or

    • (ii) in any other case, the value and description of the ratio, its valuation date and the date of the next valuation;

  • (g) for the assets of a plan that are not held in respect of member choice accounts,

    • (i) a list of the 10 largest asset holdings based on market value, each expressed as a percentage of the total assets, and

    • (ii) the target asset allocation expressed as a percentage of the total assets;

  • (h) in the case of a negotiated contribution plan, a description of the funding arrangement, including an indication that

    • (i) pension benefits or pension benefit credits may need to be reduced if negotiated contributions are insufficient to meet the funding requirements under the Act, and

    • (ii) the administrator may amend the plan to reduce, subject to the Superintendent’s authorization, pension benefits or pension benefit credits;

  • (i) for a former member who is receiving a variable benefit,

    • (i) the date of birth used to determine the minimum variable benefit payable for the year,

    • (ii) the date the variable benefit began to be paid,

    • (iii) the minimum and maximum allowable variable benefit payable, as well as the amount that the former member is receiving,

    • (iv) the investment from which the variable benefit was paid,

    • (v) the payment frequency over the year,

    • (vi) an indication of how the former member may change their election regarding the amount to be paid during the year and the investment from which the variable benefit is to be paid, and

    • (vii) a list of the transfer options available under subsection 16.4(1) of the Act; and

  • (j) a statement setting out the right to access the documents described in paragraph 28(1)(c) of the Act.

• (2) A written statement referred to in paragraph 28(1)(d) of the Act, in the case of a member who has retired from a plan, shall be in the form set out in Form 1 of Schedule IV.

• (3) The written statement referred to in paragraph 28(1)(d) of the Act, in the case of a plan member who ceases to be a member of the plan for any reason other than the termination of the whole or part of the plan or retirement, shall be given in Form 2 of Schedule IV.

• (4) The written statement referred to in paragraph 28(1)(e) of the Act shall be given in Form 3 of Schedule IV.

• (5) [Repealed, SOR/2015-60, s. 14]

23.1 For the purposes of paragraph 28(1)(c) of the Act, each person referred to in that paragraph may examine

• (a) the written statement of investment policies and procedures that pertain to the plan’s portfolio of investments and loans as described in subsection 7.1(1);

• (b) the funding policy of a negotiated contribution plan described in section 10.992; and

• (c) the governance policy of a negotiated contribution plan described in section 10.993.

Information to Be Provided — Phased Retirement Benefits

23.2 The administrator of a plan that provides for the payment of a phased retirement benefit shall give, in written form, to the person to whom the benefit is to be paid, and to their spouse or common-law partner, before the person enters into an agreement referred to in paragraph 16.1(3)(a) of the Act

• (a) if the person is a member before the phased retirement period begins, the statements shown in Forms 1 and 5 of Schedule IV; and

• (b) if, before that period begins, the person is a former member who has retired, the statement shown in Form 5.1 of Schedule IV.

Information To Be Provided — Variable Benefits

23.3 The notification of consent of the spouse or common-law partner required under paragraph 16.2(2)(a) of the Act shall be made in Form 5.2 of Schedule IV.

Information on Plan Termination

• 23.4 (1) The written statement required under paragraph 28(2.1)(a) of the Act shall be given in Form 2.1 of Schedule IV.

• (2) The written statement required under paragraph 28(2.1)(b) of the Act shall be given in Form 2.2 of Schedule IV.

Report on Termination of Plan

24 A report filed pursuant to subsection 29(9) of the Act on the termination of a plan or part of a plan shall be prepared

• (a) by an actuary, accountant or other professional advisor, in the case of

  • (i) a defined contribution plan where the contributions under the plan are allocated to individual plan members, or

  • (ii) a defined benefit plan that is an insured plan; and

• (b) by an actuary, in the case of any other plan.

• 24.1 (1) For the purposes of this section, solvency deficit means the amount by which the solvency liabilities as at the date of termination of a plan or the valuation date, as the case may be, exceeds the sum of the solvency assets at that date and the amounts required to be paid under subsection 29(6) of the Act.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection 29(6.1) of the Act,

  • (a) an employer shall pay an amount equal to the solvency deficit as at the date of termination of the plan either in a lump sum or by equal annual payments sufficient to liquidate the solvency deficit over a period of five years from the date of termination;

  • (b) the interest rate used to determine the annual payments is the same as the interest rate used to determine the solvency liabilities of the plan at the date of termination; and

  • (c) the annual payments shall be paid by equal monthly instalments no later than 30 days after the end of each month.

• (3) The annual payment determined under paragraph (2)(a) that is to be paid in the plan year in which the plan is terminated may be reduced by the amounts required to be paid under subsection 29(6) of the Act.

• (4) An actuarial report, filed after termination of the plan but before it is wound up, shall set out the remaining solvency assets, solvency liabilities, solvency deficit and remaining payments required to liquidate the solvency deficit as at the valuation date. The solvency assets and solvency deficit shall not include the face value of any letters of credit.

• (5) If the present value of remaining payments determined in accordance with paragraph (2)(a) exceeds the remaining solvency deficit established as at the valuation date in accordance with the actuarial report referred to in subsection (4), the payments remaining to be made in respect of the solvency deficit are reduced pro rata.

• (6) If the remaining solvency deficit established as at the valuation date in accordance with the actuarial report referred to in subsection (4) exceeds the present value of remaining payments determined in accordance with paragraph (2)(a), the remaining payments are increased pro rata such that the remaining payments will liquidate the remaining solvency deficit over the remainder of the five-year period beginning on the date of termination.

• (7) Any solvency deficit that arises five or more years after the date of termination of the plan shall be immediately paid down.

• (8) For the purposes of subsection 29(6.3) of the Act, the portion of the remaining amount that is attributable to the payments made under subsection 29(6.1) of the Act is equal to the lesser of

  • (a) the amount remaining in the pension fund at the date of winding-up, and

  • (b) the accumulated value at the date of winding-up, with interest at the rates earned by the pension fund, of the payments made under subsection 29(6.1) of the Act.

Electronic Communications

• 25 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 31.1(1)(a) of the Act, the addressee may consent in writing, in paper or electronic form, or orally.

• (2) Before an addressee consents, the administrator shall notify the addressee

  • (a) of the addressee’s right to revoke their consent at any time;

  • (b) of the addressee’s responsibility to inform the administrator of any changes the addressee makes to the designated information system, including any changes made to the contact information for the designated information system; and

  • (c) of the date when the consent takes effect.

• (3) The addressee shall revoke their consent in writing, in paper or electronic form, or orally.