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 ...

Last year, the British Columbia Government amended the Family Law Act provision for pension division on relationship breakdown.* Many of those amendments required changes to be made to the accompanying Division of Pensions Regulation. These amendments to the Regulation were recently published by the government and will come into force on January 1, 2025. The amendments ...

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 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 ...

In recent years, we have seen a noticeable increase in the regulatory focus on risk management to address evolving and growing risks facing pension plan administrators (including cyber security, climate change and investment risks, to name a few):

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CAPSA Draft Risk Management Guideline

In May 2023, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA ...

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 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 ...