Have you amended your pension plan?

April 25, 2017 Occasional Contributors HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Union Relations

As discussed at our last A.M. Pension Webinar, the Pension Benefits Act (Ontario) (“PBA”) was recently amended. In this communiqué, we briefly review those amendments.

Definition of spouse

In late 2016, the Ontario government introduced Bill 28, All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, legislation which was aimed, in part, at making it easier for same sex parents to establish their parental relationship over the children of that relationship. According to the Ontario government, Bill 28 “recognizes the legal status of all parents, whether they are LGBTQ2+ or straight, and whether their children were conceived with or without assistance.”

Under Bill 28, a number of Ontario statutes were amended, including the PBA. Effective January 1, 2017, the definition of spouse under the PBA was amended to read:

either of two persons who,

(a) are married to each other, or

(b) are not married to each other and are living together in a conjugal relationship,

(i) continuously for a period of not less than three years, or

(ii) in a relationship of some permanence, if they are the parents of a child as set out in section 4 of the Children’s Law Reform Act.

Paragraph (ii) of the definition previously read “(ii) in a relationship of some permanence, if they are the natural or adoptive parents of a child, both as defined in the Family Law Act.”

Employer plan sponsors should review their plan texts and related member communications in order to determine whether changes need to be made to reflect the new definition. Frontline HR staff should also be made aware of the change.

Portability rules

Effective March 1, 2017, the PBA was amended to allow members who have reached their normal retirement age but have not yet commenced receiving a pension to elect to transfer their benefits out of the plan on termination (i.e., to be provided with portability options) if the Plan so allows.

Plan sponsors who would like to provide portability options to Ontario members who have reached their normal retirement age should ensure that their plans expressly allow for such options.

By: Kim Ozubko, Miller Thomson LLP

About
Latest Posts

Occasional Contributors

In addition to our regular guest bloggers, First Reference Talks blog published by First Reference, provides occasional guest post opportunities from various subject matter experts on the topics of payroll, employment and labour law, payroll, HR analytics, corporate immigration, accessibility related issues in Canada. If you are a subject matter expert and would like to become an occasional blogger, please contact Yosie Saint-Cyr at editor@firstreference.com. If you liked this post, subscribe to First Reference Talks blog to get regular updates.