Pensions & Employee Benefits

Lawson Lundell boasts Western Canada's leading Pensions and Employee Benefits Law Group. The group consists of a core of solicitors practising exclusively in the pensions and benefits law area and a litigation team with an unmatched level of experience conducting pension litigation and defending pensions class actions in the courts. When needed the group can call on other lawyers with relevant knowledge in related areas such as tax, trust, fiduciary, investment and insurance matters affecting pensions and benefit plans.

Pensions and employee benefits law is an area of law focused on providing advice and solutions on issues arising out of different kinds of plans and programs that employers provide for their employees.

These include:

• Defined benefit registered pension plans
• Capital accumulation plans (including defined contribution registered pension plans, group RRSPs, and deferred profit sharing plans)
• Supplemental employee retirement plans (or “SERPs”) and retirement compensation arrangements (or “RCAs”)
• Health and welfare trusts and employee life and health trusts
• Group benefits including life, disability and health and dental plans
• Employee incentive plans and bonus plans
• Executive compensation plans and change in control agreements

Our pensions and employee benefits lawyers know how to navigate the legal and regulatory hurdles encountered in establishing, governing, managing, communicating, litigating, merging and terminating pensions and employee benefit plans. We are fully conversant with the Income Tax Act and provincial and federal pension standards issues facing plan sponsors and administrators. We work closely with decision-makers in the benefits consulting, trust, insurance and investment management businesses. We maintain a broad network of contacts at all levels.

Our Pensions and Employee Benefits Law Group advises numerous Western Canadian employers who sponsor pension and employee benefit plans. We also act for more than 30 boards of trustees of multi-employer pension and health and welfare plans. Our clients are in all sectors of the economy, including resources, financial services, manufacturing and government.

Team