Pensions and Employee Benefits Law Blog 

Since the elimination of mandatory retirement in British Columbia (and across the country), we have seen a flurry of cases that deal with the issue of the provision of benefits to employees aged 65 and older.  In September of this year a new decision was added to this growing body of case law: Okanagan College v. Okanagan Faculty Association (“Okanagan College”). The ...

In May 2023, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) released a final draft of its Risk Management Guideline for pension plans. Following a consultation and review period, CAPSA released the final version of the Guideline on September 9, 2024.

We strongly recommend that all pension plan administrators carefully review the final version of ...

On July 8^th, the B.C. Financial Services Authority ("FSA") released a new draft Information Security Guideline, and opened a consultation period set to close on September 6^th, 2024.  The new draft Guideline will apply exclusively to pension plan administrators (“PPA”). 

As you may recall:

• In January 2021, B.C. FSA released a draft Information Security Guideline which ...

On February 29, 2024, the BC Financial Services Authority (“BCFSA”) released Advisory 24-003. The Advisory informs administrators of defined contribution (money purchase) plans registered in British Columbia of BCFSA’s intent to ask for certain information about those pension plans directly from fundholders.  Recall that every pension plan in British ...

On June 6, 2023, the BC Financial Services Authority (BC FSA) issued a new guideline on best practices for multi-employer pension plans (MEPPs).

BC FSA advised in its Advisory 23-025 that the MEPP Best Practices Guideline is aimed at informing administrators and stakeholders of best governance practices of MEPPs registered in B.C. It also sets out BC FSA’s expectations ...

The Pension Benefits Standards Act requires B.C. registered pension plans to conduct triennial plan assessments which assess the administration of a pension plan with respect to compliance with the Act, governance, funding, investment, and the performance of trustees and administrators.

For most pension plans (those with a fiscal year of January to December), the next ...

As part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2021, the federal government announced on November 25, 2022 that Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits will be extended from 15 weeks to 26 weeks, effective December 18, 2022.

Employees who qualify and establish a new EI claim on or after December 18 will be eligible for up to 26 weeks of EI sickness benefits and will receive ...

As noted previously on this blog, pension regulators have been working towards increasing guidance for pension plan administrators in relation to protecting pension plan information and records. The BC Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued drafts of its Information Security Guideline and its Outsourcing Guideline, invited consultation, and in October 2021 ...

In response to industry feedback after its initial release of the Information Security Guideline, BC Financial Services Authority (BC FSA) has issued:

1. A revised version of the Information Security Guideline and
2. The new Outsourcing Guideline.

BC FSA advised in its Advisory 21-015 that accompanied the revised Information Security Guideline that the revisions reflect ...

In May 2021, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) released updated Guideline No. 7, Pension Plan Funding Policy Guideline. CAPSA was engaged in a consultation process in the fall of 2020 and the updated Guideline is the result of that consultation process.

The updated Guideline No. 7 maintains the useful and clear guidance on pension plan ...