This page provides links to pre-2008 consultation papers and proposed legislation related to the regulation of Ontario pension plans under the Pension Benefits Act and related legislation.

Mandatory Retirement

In June 2005, the Ontario Minister of Labour introduced Bill 211, An Act to amend the Human Rights Code and certain other Acts to end mandatory retirement. The Act received Royal Assent on December 12, 2005, to take effect one year after this date (except for section 7 which amended the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997).

Further information is available on The Ministry of Labour website where the Ministry has provided answers to a group of Frequently Asked Questions.

Pension Sector Cost Recovery Proposal

FSCO is proposing to implement an assessment process, commencing with its 2007/08 fiscal year, to ensure that FSCO’s expenditures for the pension sector are fully recovered.  This new process will replace the current Annual Information Return (AIR) fee.

The proposed new cost recovery process retains the structure of the current AIR fee as a base assessment for each plan. The only noteworthy changes are to have an assessment adjustment assigning shortfalls/surpluses on a pro rata basis to the base assessment, and to have the new assessment collected through an invoice instead of with the AIR.

Comments on FSCO’s Pension Sector Cost Recovery Proposal may be made by August 18, 2006 to the attention of:

Gino Marandola
Senior Manager, Operations
Financial Services Commission of Ontario
5160 Yonge St., 4th Floor, Box 85
Toronto, ON M2N 6L9

Tel: 416 226-7820
Fax: 416 226-7777

Email: gmarando@fsco.gov.on.ca

Expert Commission Established

On November 9, 2006, the government of Ontario announced the appointment of an expert commission to carry out province wide consultations on possible changes to the Pension Benefits Act. The commission is to be chaired by Harry Arthurs, a noted academic and labour lawyer. Other commission members are Ian Markham, Kathryn Bush, Bob Baldwin and Murray Gold. The commission is expected to report back in the summer of 2008.

The commission’s areas of focus will include:

• pension plan funding and surplus;
• the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund;
• full and partial plan wind ups, plan splits and mergers;
• asset transfers between pension plans; and
• funding of defined benefit multi-employer pension plans.

Information about the commission, its terms of reference and contact information is available at www.pensionreview.on.ca.

Surplus Sharing Regulation Extended

On November 9, 2006, the regulation to extend subsections 8 (1) and (2) of Regulation 909 to December 31, 2009 was filed as O. Reg. 509/06. The regulation will be published in The Ontario Gazette on November 25, 2006.

Current Consultations and Proposed Legislation