Proposed Changes to Instruction Guide – Termination of a Defined Benefit Pension Plan

Document Properties

  • Type of Publication: Letter
  • Date: November 2, 2020
  • To: Administrators of pension plans with defined benefit provisions registered or filed for registration under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 and their consultants

OSFI posted a draft revised Instruction Guide for the Termination of a Defined Benefit Pension Plan (the Guide) along with this accompanying memo, on January 20, 2020 for consultation that was scheduled to end on March 31, 2020. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, on March 13, 2020, OSFI suspended a number of consultation initiatives and policy development work related to new or revised guidance, including consultation on this Guide. As indicated in the latest issue of the Pillar, OSFI has gradually restarted policy development work.

The consultation period for the Guide has now resumed. Please note that a change to footnote 43 of the Guide was needed to reflect the fact that the federal government signed the 2020 Agreement Respecting Multi-Jurisdictional Pension Plans in June 2020. As a result, a multi-jurisdictional plan with members under Quebec’s jurisdiction will no longer need to file a separate termination report covering these members with the provincial regulator.

Please send any questions or comments concerning the Guide to Sylvia Bartlett, Manager of the Policy Team in the Private Pension Plans Division, by email at sylvia.bartlett@osfi-bsif.gc.ca. OSFI will post a non-attributed summary of stakeholder comments and OSFI’s responses when we release the final version of the Guide. Please provide comments no later than November 30, 2020.

Tamara DeMos
Managing Director
Private Pension Plans Division