Vol. 150, No. 14 — July 13, 2016

Registration

SI/2016-41 July 13, 2016

SUSTAINING CANADA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT

Order Fixing the Day on which this Order is made as the Day on which Subsection 179(1) of the Act Comes into Force

P.C. 2016-663 June 30, 2016

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to section 199 of the Sustaining Canada’s Economic Recovery Act, chapter 25 of the Statutes of Canada, 2010, fixes the day on which this order is made as the day on which subsection 179(1) of that Act comes into force.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

Pursuant to section 199 of the Sustaining Canada’s Economic Recovery Act (2010, C. 25), this Order brings subsection 179(1) of that Act into force on the day the Order is made.

Objective

Bringing this section into force would enable the Government of Canada to enter into agreements with designated provinces with respect to pension plans which include federal and provincial members and may not be considered compatible with the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (PBSA) framework.

Background

Subsection 2(1) of the PBSA currently defines a “designated province” as a province prescribed as a province in which there is in force a law substantially similar to the PBSA. The designated provinces are prescribed in section 3 of the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 (PBSR) as Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

Under the Sustaining Canada’s Economic Recovery Act, the second Budget 2010 implementation act which received royal assent on December 15, 2010, the definition of “designated province” was amended in recognition that many provinces had developed or were in the process of developing new and innovative pension plan frameworks that may not be considered compatible with the PBSA and therefore their pension legislation could no longer be considered substantially similar to the PBSA. The amended definition is broader as it defines a designated province as a one in which there is pension legislation applicable to private pension plans in force instead of legislation substantially similar to the PBSA. Regulatory amendments to section 3 of the PBSR have been made to allow the amended definition of “designated province” to be operationalized once it is brought into force.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1, amended the agreement powers in the PBSA to broaden the scope of the federal government’s ability to enter into bilateral agreements with designated provinces to better allow the federal and provincial governments to work together to oversee certain pension plans.

Implications

The Budget 2010 amendment to the PBSA brought into force through this Order in Council will support the Budget 2016 amendments to the agreement powers of the PBSA to enable the Minister of Finance to enter into agreements with designated provinces for the regulation of pension plans, which include federal and provincial members, that may not be considered to be compatible with the PBSA, and whose pension legislation may no longer be considered to be substantially similar to the PBSA as a result.

Consultation

The amendments to the definition of “designated province” in the PBSA made through the Sustaining Canada’s Economic Recovery Act are the result of a wide consultation to improve the legislative and regulatory framework respecting federally regulated private sector pension plans, which was conducted in 2009 by the Department of Finance.

Departmental contact

Lisa Pezzack
Director
Financial Systems Division
Department of Finance
90 Elgin Street, 13th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5
Email: Lisa.Pezzack@canada.ca