Pensions and Employee Benefits Law Blog 

On November 8, 2023, Bill 33, Pension Benefits Standards Amendment Act, 2023, received Royal Assent. This Bill makes a number of amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Act (PBSA), including the introduction of variable life benefits for defined contribution pension plans and greater flexibility in the eligibility rules for collectively bargained ...

The British Columbia government recently introduced changes to the Family Law Act, including amendments to the rules for pension division on relationship breakdown. These changes are part of Bill 17, which received Royal Assent on May 11, 2023.

Among other things, Bill 17 is intended to modernize and provide greater clarity and guidance with respect to pension division in ...

Last week, the B.C. Government introduced a bill that, if passed, would expand the exceptions to the Pension Benefits Standards Act’s rule against attachment of pension benefits.

Currently, the Pension Benefits Standards Act permits pension benefits to be attached by certain notices and orders made under the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act when a person defaults ...

On December 31, 2022 amendments to B.C.’s Pensions Benefits Standards Regulation came into force. While these amendments primarily address PfAD reform for target benefit plans, they also updated the information that target benefit plans are required to provide to active and retired members in their annual statements.

In particular, the annual statements for active ...

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 ...

On February 4, 2022, the federal government released a set of draft legislative proposals relating to the Income Tax Act (Canada) for public comment. Many of these proposals implement changes previously announced or confirmed in Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

This article discusses the draft proposals that are of interest to ...

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. As financial markets became turbulent and many plan sponsors were forced to alter their businesses due to COVID-19 precautions, pension regulators across Canada responded by announcing special measures to help protect the interests of pension plan members, assist pension plan ...

In 2019, the federal government announced its intention to amend the tax rules for Specified Multi Employer Plans (SMEPs) to prohibit contributions in respect of employees over age 71 and re-employed retirees. Two years later, the government is moving ahead with these changes.

While these rules are not yet in force, the legislation that will enact those rules (Bill C-30

In April, the Government of Canada released Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience. Characterized as a plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery to benefit all Canadians, it contained several measures that will impact pension and benefit plans.

The first steps to implementing many of these measures were taken ...

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, pension regulators across Canada have been announcing special measures to help protect the interests of pension plan members, assist pension plan administrators and ensure the ongoing financial health of pension plans, particularly given the negative impact that current financial market conditions have had on the funded status of ...