Pensions and Benefits Law Blog

COVID-19: Potential implications for pensions and benefits

Pension plan members will be relying upon their employers for reassurance, and pension plan administrators will be expected to uphold their fiduciary...

Amendments to Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act include changes related to missing members, electronic communications and JSPPs

Wide-ranging amendments to Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act (PBA) came into force on December 10, 2019 when the Better for People, Smarter for...

Discharge for annuity buy-outs in Ontario: It’s finally here!

Ontario’s long-awaited changes to provide for statutory discharges on the purchase of buy-out annuities are finally in force.  The buy-out...

Target date funds: Don’t let your guard down

A 2017 survey conducted by FSCO found target date funds to be the most common default member-directed investment option offered by Ontario-registered...

Pension design innovation for the 21st century

At a recent Osler seminar, we featured four speakers, who discussed innovative pension products that have been created within the current legal...

Ontario amends pension legislation to address electronic beneficiary designations

Pension plan administrators are implementing electronic tools as part of their administration processes with increasing frequency. This can be...

Target benefit plans – From New Brunswick to Ontario to the UK

In the most recent provincial budget, the Ontario government has signaled its willingness to expand its proposed target benefit framework outside the...

Differential treatment in pension and benefit plans based on date of hire now prohibited in Québec (or is it really?)

The differences in pension and employee benefits between younger workers and more experienced workers have become one of the dominant political...

Target benefit plans continue to gain traction

Following the federal government’s proposed changes to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (the “PBSA”) to permit...