29. (1) The revocation of registration of a pension plan shall be deemed to constitute termination of the plan.

(2) The Superintendent may declare the whole or part of a pension plan terminated where

(a) there is any suspension or cessation of employer contributions in respect of all or part of the plan members;

(b) the employer has discontinued or is in the process of discontinuing all of its business operations or a part thereof in which a substantial portion of its employees who are members of the pension plan are employed; or

(c) the Superintendent is of the opinion that the pension plan has failed to meet the prescribed tests and standards for solvency in respect of funding referred to in subsection 9(1).

(3) A declaration made under subsection (2) shall declare a pension plan or part thereof, as the case may be, to be terminated as of the date that the Superintendent considers appropriate in the circumstances.

(4) If employer contributions to a pension plan are suspended or cease as a result of the adoption of a new plan, the original plan is deemed not to have been terminated, and the pension benefits and other benefits provided under the original plan are deemed to be benefits provided under the new plan in respect of any period of membership before the adoption of the new plan, whether or not the assets and liabilities of the original plan have been consolidated with those of the new plan.

(5) An administrator who intends to terminate the whole or part of a pension plan or wind up a pension plan shall notify the Superintendent in writing of that intention at least sixty days before the date of the intended termination or winding-up.

(6) On the termination of the whole of a pension plan, the employer shall pay into the plan all amounts that would otherwise have been required to be paid to meet the prescribed tests and standards for solvency referred to in subsection 9(1) and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the employer shall pay into the plan

(a) an amount equal to the aggregate of

(i) the normal actuarial cost, and

(ii) any prescribed special payments,

that have accrued to the date of the termination; and

(b) all

(i) amounts deducted by the employer from members’ remuneration, and

(ii) other amounts due to the pension fund from the employer

that have not been remitted to the pension fund at the date of the termination.

(7) On the termination or winding-up of the whole of a pension plan, no part of the assets of the plan shall revert to the benefit of the employer until the Superintendent’s consent has been obtained and provision has been made for the payment to members and former members and their spouses, common-law partners, beneficiaries, estates or successions of all accrued or payable benefits in respect of membership up to the date of the termination or winding-up and, for that purpose, those benefits shall be treated as vested without regard to conditions as to age, period of membership in the plan or period of employment.

(8) On the termination of the whole of a pension plan, all assets of the plan that are to be used for the purpose of providing pension benefits or other benefits continue to be subject to this Act.

(9) On the termination of a pension plan or part of a plan, the administrator of the plan shall file with the Superintendent a report, prepared by a person having the prescribed qualifications, setting out the nature of the pension benefits and other benefits to be provided under the plan and a description of the methods of allocating and distributing those benefits and deciding the priorities in respect of the payment of full or partial benefits to the members.

(10) Assets of the plan may not be applied toward the provision of any benefits until the Superintendent has approved the report required by subsection (9), but the administrator of the plan may nevertheless pay to the person entitled, as they fall due, pension benefits, or refunds of employee contributions and interest thereon, as the case may be.

(11) Where the whole of a pension plan has been terminated and the Superintendent is of the opinion that no action or insufficient action has been taken to wind up the plan, the Superintendent may direct the administrator to distribute the assets of the plan in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 39(j), and may direct that any expenses incurred in connection with that distribution be paid out of the pension fund of the plan, and the administrator shall forthwith comply with any such direction.

(12) Where a plan is terminated in part, the rights of members affected shall not be less than what they would have been if the whole of the plan had been terminated on the same date as the partial termination.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 29; 1998, c. 12, s. 18; 2000, c. 12, s. 261.

29.1 (1) If the administrator of a pension plan that has been terminated in whole or in part is insolvent or unable to act or the Superintendent is of the opinion that it is in the best interests of the members or former members, or any other persons entitled to pension benefits or refunds under the plan, that the administrator of the plan be removed, the Superintendent may remove the administrator and appoint a replacement administrator. A replacement administrator may recover their reasonable costs from the pension fund.

(2) The Superintendent shall, as soon as possible in the circumstances, notify a replaced administrator of their removal.

(3) The replacement administrator is seized of the pension fund as of the date of the notification under subsection (2).

(4) After receiving approval of the report under subsection 29(10), the replacement administrator shall give notice to the members, former members and any other persons who are entitled to pension benefits or refunds under the pension plan of the replacement administrator’s intention to distribute the assets of the plan in accordance with the report.

(5) The replacement administrator shall publish the notice in the Canada Gazette and, except as otherwise directed by the Superintendent, once a week for two consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers in general circulation in each province.

(6) The members, former members and any other persons who were entitled to pension benefits or refunds under the pension plan immediately before the appointment of the replacement administrator are subrogated to those rights and claims of the replacement administrator that the replacement administrator has elected in writing not to pursue.

(7) On distribution of the assets in accordance with this Act and the regulations, the Superintendent may discharge the replacement administrator.

1998, c. 12, s. 19.

30. (1) Where

(a) an employer who is a party to a pension plan sells, assigns or otherwise disposes of all or part of its business or undertaking or all or part of the assets of its business or undertaking,

(b) an employee of that employer becomes an employee of the person acquiring the business, undertaking or assets (in this section called the “successor employer”), and

(c) the successor employer does not assume responsibility for the accrued benefits of the employer’s pension plan,

the employee continues to be entitled to the benefits provided under the employer’s plan in respect of the period of membership in that employer’s plan, without further accrual.

(2) Where the events described in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) occur, whether or not the successor employer assumes responsibility for the accrued benefits of the employer’s plan, then,

(a) for the purposes of the employer’s plan, membership in the employer’s plan of an employee referred to in paragraph (1)(b) shall be deemed not to have ceased by reason of those events; and

(b) for the purposes of

(i) determining the period of employment with respect to any eligibility condition of the successor employer’s pension plan, and

(ii) determining whether such an employee is entitled to a benefit under a pension plan of the employer or of the successor employer,

the period of employment shall be deemed to include employment with both the employer and the successor employer without any interruption.

31. Except to the extent that they are inconsistent with this Act, any provisions of any provincial law respecting the payment of benefits or the designation of beneficiaries under pension plans that would be applicable to a pension plan organized and administered to provide pension benefits to employees employed in included employment if that provincial law were applicable to such a pension plan shall be deemed to apply to such a pension plan as though that employment were not included employment.

32. (1) An administrator who is notified under subsection 10(4) or section 11.1 may, within sixty days after the day the notification is given, serve on the Superintendent a notice of objection in the prescribed form and manner, setting out the reasons for the objection and all facts relevant to it.

(2) On receipt of a notice of objection, the Superintendent shall immediately reconsider the refusal or the revocation and cancellation, as the case may be, and vary or confirm the action taken, and shall immediately notify the administrator of the decision.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 32; 1998, c. 12, s. 20.

33. (1) Where an administrator has served a notice of objection under section 32, the administrator may,

(a) within ninety days after the Superintendent has confirmed the action taken as described in subsection 32(1), or

(b) after ninety days and before one hundred and eighty days have elapsed after service of the notice of objection and the Superintendent has not notified the administrator that the Superintendent has varied or confirmed the action taken,

appeal to the Federal Court for an order as described in paragraph (5)(b).

(2) An appeal to the Federal Court shall be instituted by filing in the Registry of the Court, or by sending by registered mail addressed to it at Ottawa, three copies of a notice of appeal in prescribed form.

(3) On receipt of the copies of the notice of appeal referred to in subsection (2), the Registry of the Court shall transmit two copies to the Superintendent.

(4) Forthwith after receiving a copy of the notice of appeal, the Superintendent shall forward to the Registry of the Court copies of all documents relevant to the appeal.

(5) The Court may dispose of an appeal

(a) by dismissing it and ordering the appellant to ensure the compliance of the pension plan to which the appeal relates with this Act and the regulations; or

(b) by allowing it and ordering the Superintendent to register the pension plan to which the appeal relates or reinstate the registration of the plan, as the circumstances require, and issue a certificate of registration in respect thereof.

(6) An order made as described in paragraph (5)(b) may include conditions imposed on the appellant that are conditions precedent to the registration or reinstatement of registration of the pension plan to which the appeal relates.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 33; 1998, c. 12, s. 21.

33.1 (1) If an administrator, employer or other person has omitted to do any thing under this Act that is required to be done by them or on their part, or contravenes a direction of the Superintendent or a provision of this Act or the regulations, the Superintendent may, in addition to any other action that the Superintendent may take, apply to the Federal Court for an order requiring the administrator, employer or other person to cease the contravention or do any thing that is required to be done, and on such application the Federal Court may so order and make any other order it thinks fit.

(2) An appeal from an order made under subsection (1) lies in the same manner as an appeal from any other order of the Federal Court.

1998, c. 12, s. 22.

33.2 (1) In addition to any other action that the Superintendent may take in respect of a pension plan, the Superintendent may bring against the administrator, employer or any other person any cause of action that a member, former member or any other person entitled to a benefit or refund from the plan could bring.

(2) Subsection (1) applies in respect of any cause of action regardless of whether it arose before or after the coming into force of this section.

1998, c. 12, s. 22.

34. (1) The Superintendent or any person authorized in writing by the Superintendent for any purpose relating to the administration of this Act may, at any reasonable time,

(a) inspect any books, records or other documents, regardless of their physical form or characteristics, relating to a pension plan or to any securities, obligations or other investments in which pension fund moneys are invested; and

(b) require the administrator of a pension plan to furnish such information and in such form as the Superintendent deems necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the provisions of this Act or the regulations have been or are being complied with.

(2) The Superintendent has the same powers as those conferred on commissioners under Part II of the Inquiries Act with respect to the taking of evidence, and may delegate those powers.

(3) The fees and expenses of persons appointed on a temporary basis from outside the public service for the purposes of an inspection under paragraph (1)(a), including their fees and expenses related to preparing a report to the Superintendent relating to that inspection, are payable by the pension fund on being approved by the Superintendent.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 34; 1998, c. 12, s. 23; 2003, c. 22, s. 225(E).

35. No action lies against any person for withholding, deducting, paying or crediting any sum of money in compliance or intended compliance with this Act or the regulations.

36. (1) Where any provision of this Act or the regulations requires an amount to be withheld, deducted, paid or credited, any agreement or arrangement by the person on whom the requirement is imposed not to withhold, deduct, pay or credit that amount is void.

(2) Any agreement or arrangement to assign, charge, anticipate or give as security

(a) any benefit provided under a pension plan, or

(b) any money withdrawn from a pension fund pursuant to section 26

is void.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to prevent the assignment of an interest in a pension benefit, or in a life-annuity of the prescribed kind resulting from a transfer or purchase pursuant to section 26, where the assignment

(a) is ordered by a court pursuant to provincial property law (within the meaning of subsection 25(1)); or

(b) is made under subsection 25(4) pursuant to a written agreement.

(4) Any agreement or arrangement

(a) to surrender or commute a benefit, or any right or interest therein, or

(b) to surrender or commute benefits payable as a result of a transfer or purchase pursuant to section 26

that is inconsistent with the rules set out in subsection 18(1) is void.

(5) Subsection (4) does not apply in respect of payments pursuant to paragraph 18(2)(b) or (c).

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 36; 2000, c. 12, s. 262.

37. (1) Where an amendment to a pension plan may reasonably be regarded as having been made in contemplation of the termination or winding-up of the plan, either immediately or in the future, with a view to avoiding payment of any pension benefit or other benefit for which the plan provided, the amendment is subject to being declared void, in the manner provided in this section.

(2) A judge of the Federal Court may, on application to that Court by the Superintendent and after such notice to the administrator of the pension plan as the judge may direct, declare void any amendment to that pension plan that under subsection (1) is subject to being declared void, and thereon, except as otherwise determined on appeal, if any, the amendment shall be deemed to be and always to have been void for all purposes.

(3) Where any declaration has been made under subsection (2), except with consent of the Superintendent, no process or proceedings shall be taken or instituted in consequence of that declaration within the time limit for the bringing of any appeal therefrom or while any such appeal remains to be disposed of.

37.1 A direction issued under this Act by the Superintendent with respect to a particular pension plan is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

1998, c. 12, s. 24.

38. (1) Every person who

(a) contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations or a direction of the Superintendent given under the authority of this Act or the regulations,

(b) to avoid compliance with this Act or the regulations,

(i) destroys, alters, mutilates, secretes or otherwise disposes of any record, writing or other document,

(ii) makes a false or deceptive statement or a false or deceptive entry in any record, writing or other document, or

(iii) omits to furnish any material particular in any statement or in any record, writing or other document,

(c) prevents or obstructs, or attempts to prevent or obstruct, another person doing anything that that other person is authorized by or pursuant to section 34 to do or, unless unable to do so, fails to do anything that is required to be done by or pursuant to that section, or

(d) being an employer, fails to remit to the pension fund all amounts that the employer is liable so to remit,

is guilty of an offence.

(1.1) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is

(a) in the case of an individual, liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or to both; and

(b) in the case of a corporation or other body, liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.

(2) If an employer is found guilty of not remitting all amounts to a pension fund, the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty under subsection (1.1), order the employer to remit to the pension fund all amounts owing with interest.

(3) In any prosecution for an offence under this section, a certificate purporting to be signed by the Superintendent or by any person on the Superintendent’s behalf certifying that a copy of a pension plan or of an amendment to any such plan was not filed with the Superintendent as required by this Act, or certifying as to the registration of a pension plan, is admissible in evidence and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters so certified.

(4) Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act may be commenced at any time within, but not later than, two years after the day on which the subject-matter of the proceedings became known to the Superintendent.

(4.1) A document appearing to have been issued by the Superintendent, certifying the day on which the subject-matter of any proceedings became known to the Superintendent, is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the matter asserted in it.

(5) Where a corporation or other body is guilty of an offence under this section, every officer, director, agent or member of the corporation or body who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on summary conviction to the punishment provided for the offence, whether or not the corporation or body has been prosecuted or convicted.

(6) An information or complaint under this section may be laid or made by any officer of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, any member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or any person authorized in writing by the Minister.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 38; 1998, c. 12, s. 25; 2001, c. 9, s. 583.

39. The Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) respecting applications for registration of pension plans;

(a.1) respecting simplified pension plans;

(b) respecting the fees that may be charged for the registration of pension plans and for the supervision, including inspection, of registered pension plans;

(c) prescribing the conditions under which, on the cessation of a member’s membership in a pension plan or on the termination or winding-up of a pension plan, pension benefit credits may be held in trust by the administrator of the plan, or transferred to the administrator of another pension plan or to a registered retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind or to the agency referred to in paragraph 6(1)(d);

(d) prescribing, for the purposes of this Act or any provision thereof, the manner of determining the portion of a pension benefit or other benefit that is attributable to membership in a plan after December 31, 1986;

(e) respecting the time by which contributions to a pension plan are required to be remitted to the pension fund by the administrator, and respecting the consequences of failure to remit contributions to the pension fund on time, including the liability of the administrator;

(f) providing for the determination of the day on which a member or former member of a pension plan becomes entitled to a particular pension benefit or other benefit under the plan;

(g) prescribing the manner in which pension benefit credits are to be determined and fixing the time as of which the determination is to be made;

(h) for enabling the Superintendent to require administrators to provide up-to-date consolidations of their pension plans and respecting the form and certification of those consolidations;

(h.1) respecting refunds of surplus assets and arbitrations referred to in section 9.2;

(i) requiring or enabling the Superintendent to require administrators to provide information to the Superintendent in respect of pension plans, in addition to the information mentioned in section 12;

(j) respecting the distribution of the assets of a pension plan that is being wound up;

(j.1) respecting the manner in which the administrator of a pension plan shall deal with complaints or inquiries from members of the pension plan, former members and any other persons entitled to pension benefits or refunds under the plan;

(k) exempting any employee or pension plan, any class of employee or pension plan or any benefit or kind of benefit under a pension plan from the application of this Act or any provision thereof;

(l) defining the term “disability”;

(m) respecting the meaning of “impair the solvency” for the purposes of subsection 26(4);

(n) respecting the integration of

(i) the payment of any pension benefit or contribution under a pension plan

with

(ii) the payment of any pension or contribution payable under the Old Age Security Act, the Canada Pension Plan, or any provincial pension plan as defined in section 3 of the Canada Pension Plan;

(o) prescribing anything that by this Act is to be prescribed; and

(p) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 39; 1998, c. 12, s. 26; 2001, c. 34, s. 76.

40. The Superintendent shall, as soon as possible after the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Minister a report on

(a) the operation of this Act during that year,

(b) the extent to which inflation adjustments or other adjustments to pension benefits have been provided during that year, either voluntarily by employers or pursuant to collective agreements, as shown in information filed pursuant to section 12,

(c) the source of the funds used to make any adjustments referred to in paragraph (b), and

(d) the application of gains, if any, from pension funds,

and the Minister shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the day the Minister receives it.

41. [Amendments]

42. (1) The Pension Benefits Standards Act is repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Pension Benefits Standards Act and the regulations thereunder continue to apply to persons who have, before January 1, 1987, ceased membership in a pension plan or retired.

R.S., 1985, c. 32 (2nd Supp.), s. 42; 2001, c. 34, s. 77.

43. (1) Subject to this section, a pension plan that was, immediately before January 1, 1987, registered under the Pension Benefits Standards Act shall be deemed to be registered under this Act for the period commencing on January 1, 1987 and ending

(a) on December 31, 1988, where subsection (2) is not complied with, or

(b) where subsection (2) is complied with, on the day on which the plan is registered under paragraph (3)(a) or is refused registration under paragraph (3)(b)

if, before January 1, 1987 or such later date as the Superintendent may allow, the administrator has filed an undertaking that the plan will, as of January 1, 1987, be administered in accordance with this Act and the regulations.

(2) Amendments that are required in order to bring a pension plan referred to in subsection (1) into compliance with this Act and the regulations must be filed with the Superintendent on or before December 31, 1988.

(3) The Superintendent shall forthwith examine amendments that are filed pursuant to subsection (2) and shall,

(a) if the plan, as amended by those amendments, complies with the standards for registration, register the plan and issue a certificate of registration in respect of the plan, and notify the administrator by registered mail of the Superintendent’s action; or

(b) if the plan, as amended by those amendments, does not comply with the standards for registration,

(i) notify the administrator by registered mail of the particulars of such non-compliance and direct the administrator to take such action to ensure compliance as the Superintendent specifies, and

(ii) if after sixty days from the day of mailing of such notification, or such longer period as the Superintendent may allow, the administrator has failed to comply with the Superintendent’s direction referred to in subparagraph (i), refuse registration of the plan and notify the administrator by registered mail of the Superintendent’s action.

(4) Where the Superintendent is of the opinion that an undertaking mentioned in subsection (1) is not being complied with, the Superintendent shall

(a) notify the administrator by registered mail of the particulars of the non-compliance and direct the administrator to take such action to ensure compliance as the Superintendent specifies; and

(b) if after sixty days from the day of mailing of the notification, or such longer period as the Superintendent may allow, the administrator has failed to comply with the Superintendent’s direction referred to in paragraph (a), cancel the deemed registration provided by subsection (1) and notify the administrator by registered mail of the Superintendent’s action.

(5) Sections 32 and 33 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of actions of the Superintendent under subsections (3) and (4).

44. (1) In the case of a pension plan that was registered under the Pension Benefits Standards Act immediately before January 1, 1987 and is governed by one or more collective agreements entered into during the period beginning on December 17, 1985 and ending on December 31, 1986, where the terms of the pension plan conflict with the provisions of this Act, the terms of the pension plan prevail until the date of expiration of the collective agreement or the end of December 1988, whichever is earlier, after which time the provisions of this Act prevail.

(2) In the case of a pension plan that was registered under the Pension Benefits Standards Act immediately before January 1, 1987 and is governed by one or more collective agreements entered into before December 17, 1985, where the terms of the pension plan conflict with the provisions of this Act, the terms of the pension plan prevail until the date of expiration of the collective agreement or the end of December 1990, whichever is earlier, after which time the provisions of this Act prevail.

45. Notwithstanding paragraph 28(1)(b), a pension plan may provide that the statement described in that paragraph may be provided on a triennial basis up to 1992, and annually thereafter, with the first such statement due in respect of the plan year ending in 1989 at the latest.

46. This Act shall come into force on January 1, 1987.

[Amendments]