More Changes to Ontario Pension Law
Reprinted from Fasken Martineau's Pension & Benefits Law Bulletin, April 2000
The Ontario Government has now released regulations that spell out most of the details of Bill
27, the amendments to the Pension Benefits Act that it passed late last year. Our January 2000
bulletin summarized the major points of Bill 27. The Bill and the regulations came into effect on
March 3, 2000.
Regulations providing details of the Government's most highly-publicized change in the Act, the
unlocking of pensions for financial hardship, are expected to be released later this spring.
The changes apply to all pension plans with members in Ontario (other than federally-regulated
plans). Among the most important changes introduced last month:
New Investment Rules
Beginning on January 1, 2001, pension plans registered in Ontario are required to invest in
accordance with the investment rules under the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act. These
rules are similar to but not the same as the existing Ontario rules. Pension plan administrators
must establish a new statement of investment policies and procedures that complies with these
federal rules by January 1, 2001. Pension plans have the option of beginning to invest under the
federal rules between now and the end of the year. These rules apply despite any other provisions
of the plan documents.
Investments held on January 1, 2001 that do not comply with the federal rules must be disposed
of no later than January 1, 2005.
Contribution Summaries and Notices
All pension plan administrators must provide a summary of the contributions required to be
made to a pension plan for the year to the trustee or other funding agent within 60 days after the
beginning of the plan's fiscal year. This annual requirement comes into effect on July 1, 2000,
which means that for most pension plans, the summary will be required for plan years beginning
in 2001. The summary must be in the form approved by the Superintendent of Financial
Services. Any changes to the summary must also be reported to the trustee within 60 days of the
change.
The trustee is required to give notice to the Superintendent if a contribution summary is not
submitted within 30 days of the date it is due. The trustee is also required to give notice to the
Superintendent if a required contribution is not made made within 60 days after the date it was
due.
These summary and notice requirements do not apply to most multi-employer pension plans.