InfoPensions – Issue 33 – November 2025
InfoPensions includes announcements and reminders on matters relevant to federally regulated private pension plans including pooled registered pension plans. It is published twice a year and you can subscribe to it and other pension-related announcements by using Email notifications. We expect to publish the next issue of InfoPensions in May 2026.
If you have any questions about any of the articles you read or if you have suggestions for future articles, please contact us at Pension-Retraite@osfi-bsif.gc.ca. You can find past articles by searching our pension guidance by topic.
For general enquiries, please contact us at information@osfi-bsif.gc.ca. If you prefer to contact us by telephone or by mail, please select "Contact OSFI" on our website.
Table of contents
Supervision
Late contributions and communications with plan custodians
The Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (PBSA) provides that plan administrators must inform their trustee or custodian in writing of all amounts to be remitted to the pension fund. The requirement under section 9.1 of the PBSA applies to both defined benefit and defined contribution provisions of a pension plan.
Most plan administrators inform their custodian of these amounts by sending them a contribution planner. This document allows the custodian to compare the money that was remitted to the pension fund with the amounts that were expected.
We may contact a custodian when following up with a reported late remittance issue or to confirm amounts remitted as part of our normal plan monitoring. This might occur if we have identified concerns with respect to the pension plan or if a plan had late remittance issues in the past.
If a payment into a pension fund is not remitted within 30 days after it was due, the plan administrator and the plan custodian are required to notify the Superintendent. The custodian notifies the Superintendent by sending a non-remittance letter and we follow up with the plan administrator. In many instances where we receive a non-remittance letter, we find that the plan administrator did, in fact, remit the correct amount into the fund. The issue is that they did not update their contribution planner with their custodian, which led to the custodian's notice to us of non-remittance.
These situations can best be avoided by plan administrators keeping their contribution planners current. When there is a significant change to a pension plan (such as a material decrease in plan membership resulting in less money being remitted into the pension fund), then we expect the plan administrator to communicate these changes to their custodian by sending them a revised contribution planner.
To assist all parties in meeting their obligations under the PBSA, we have a sample contribution planner (PDF) on our website. Note that using this specific form is not required and plan administrators may choose to use another format to notify the trustee or custodian of expected contributions.
Guidance and legislative matters
Basic rate for assessment of pension plans
The Assessment of Pension Plans Regulations require the Superintendent to publish annually in the Canada Gazette, Part I, a notice, which sets out the basic rate that will be applied to the assessment of pension plans in the upcoming fiscal year.
This notice was published on September 27, 2025, and the basic rate is $12 for assessments that are invoiced by us for plan years ending between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026. This is the same basic rate that is currently in effect. The basic rate applies to all pension plans registered under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 and the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act.
Please refer to the Pension Plan Assessment Rate Schedule on our website for more information.
We determine the assessment due for a pension plan and send an invoice after the due date of the plan's Annual Information Return or, where applicable, after having received an application for registration. We typically prepare the invoice approximately 45 days after determining the assessment, for example, approximately 45 days after the due date of the Annual Information Return.
Please continue to wait to be invoiced rather than sending payment for the assessment along with an application for registration or after filing the plan's Annual Information Return.
OSFI Guideline E-23 Model Risk Management
OSFI published the final Guideline E-23 – Model Risk Management on September 11, 2025. Federally regulated private pension plans were covered by draft versions of the guideline but have been excluded from the scope of application of the final guideline. This change reflects differences in the legislative frameworks applicable to federally regulated private pension plans compared to financial institutions and takes into account consultation feedback received from stakeholders as well as our expectation that plan administrators follow Guideline No. 10: Guideline for Risk Management for Plan Administrators (PDF) of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities.
Guidance posted on our website
No documents regarding federally regulated private pension plans were posted to our website since the last edition of InfoPensions was published in May 2025.
Actuarial
Maximum discount rate
In accordance with the instruction guide for the Preparation of Actuarial Reports for Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Actuarial Guide), the best estimate rate of return on assets used in the determination of the going concern discount rate should not exceed a certain level so that the assumption used by actuaries in their actuarial reports remains fit for purpose.
We have reviewed the maximum going concern discount rate of 6.75% currently in effect and determined that it will remain unchanged for actuarial reports with a valuation date on or after December 31, 2025.
Regulatory filings and important dates
Important reminders and dates
Annual filings and plan amendments must be filed using the Regulatory Reporting System (RRS).
Under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985:
| Action or Required Filing | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Annual Information Return (OSFI 49) and Schedule A – Canada Revenue Agency Information Requirements (OSFI 49A) | 6 months after plan year end |
| Pension Plan Annual Corporate Certification (PPACC) | 6 months after plan year end |
| Certified Financial Statements (OSFI 60), Auditor's Report Filing Confirmation (ARFC) and, if required, an Auditor's Report | 6 months after plan year end |
| Payment of Plan Assessment | Upon receipt of the OSFI-issued invoice |
| Annual statements to members and former members and their spouses or common-law partners | 6 months after plan year end |
| Amendments to documents that create or support the plan or pension fund | Within 60 days after the amendment is made |
| Action or Required Filing | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Actuarial Report and Actuarial Information Summary and, if required, Replicating Portfolio Information Summary | 6 months after plan year end |
| Solvency Information Return (OSFI 575) | The later of 45 days after the plan year end or February 15 |
Documents in support of an application for plan registration can be submitted by email to Approvals-Approbations@osfi-bsif.gc.ca. All other documents in support of an application that requires the Superintendent's authorization must be filed using RRS. For additional information including instruction guides for filing an application using RRS, please visit the Amendments, Applications and Approvals section of our website.
Under the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act:
| Action or Required Filing | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Pooled Registered Pension Plan Annual Information Return (includes financial statements) | April 30 (4 months after the end of the year to which the document relates) |
| Auditor's Report | April 30 (4 months after the end of the year to which the document relates) |
| Pension Plan Annual Corporate Certification (PPACC) | April 30 (4 months after the end of the year) |
| Payment of Plan Assessments | Upon receipt of the OSFI-issued invoice |
| Annual statements to members and their spouses or common-law partners | February 14 (45 days after the end of the year) |
Other topics
Pension Plans Survey
As part of our ongoing commitment to be responsive to stakeholder input and to continually improve performance, we periodically consult with pension plan administrators and other pension stakeholders of federally regulated private pension plans through an online survey.
On November 17, 2025, we sent an online survey to all administrators of federally regulated private pension plans with an asset size of $500,000 or more, and at least 10 plan members. It was also sent to pension stakeholders, including third-party administrators, actuaries, lawyers, and pension industry associations. The survey is administered by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc., an independent third party. We invite all stakeholders who received the survey to please complete it by December 12, 2025, as your feedback will help us identify areas for improvement. Thank you to those who have already participated.
The results of our survey are expected to be available on our website in the summer of 2026.
Search tool for who we regulate moved to new location on Open Government
For a list of the private pension plans regulated by OSFI, or a list of pooled registered pension plans, please refer to Who we regulate - private pension plans and List of pooled registered pension plans, on Open Government. This information was recently moved from OSFI's website to Open Government as part of our ongoing efforts to improve data accessibility and usability for the public. Note that we continue to exclude plans with ten or fewer members from the list of private pension plans for privacy reasons.
We encourage you to update your bookmarks and begin using the new location on Open Government. For questions related to these lists, please contact us at information@osfi-bsif.gc.ca.
Organizational changes
Since May 2025, the following organizational changes affected staff responsible for federally regulated private pension plans:
- Following the departure of Assistant Superintendent Tolga Yalkin in January 2025, the Regulatory Affairs Directorate, which includes the pension Legislative Affairs and Approvals teams, began reporting to Angie Radiskovic the Deputy Superintendent of the Risk, Strategy and Policy sector.
- Vlasios Melessanakis was appointed interim Managing Director in the Legislative Affairs Division in September 2025. This position was previously held by Isabelle Lepage.
- Claire Ezzeddin was appointed Director, Private Pension Plans in the Legislative Affairs Division in September 2025. Claire was previously a Senior Manager in the Legislative Affairs Division.
- The Pensions Approvals team, previously part of the Approvals Division, joined the Legislative Affairs Division in October 2025 and Bryce Anderson, Manager, Pensions Approvals, is now reporting to Claire Ezzeddin.