Vol. 136, No. 18 — May 4, 2002

Regulations Amending the Public Service Superannuation Regulations

Statutory Authority

Public Service Superannuation Act and Financial Administration Act

Sponsoring Agency

Treasury Board Secretariat

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

The amendments to the Public Service Superannuation Regulations will modify the quarterly rate of interest that is used for calculating interest on returns of contributions starting with the quarter ending June 30, 2002. The new quarterly interest rate, which will be applied from that point on, will be derived from the Public Service Pension Fund performance of the previous year or zero percent, whichever is greater.

Although the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA) is not subject to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, this new quarterly rate would be consistent with the requirements of that Act in that it would provide a rate of interest that reflects gains that can be attributed to the investment results of the Public Service Pension Fund.

Alternatives

As the registered pension plan for federal employees is contained in statute, there is no alternative but to amend the regulations.

Benefits and Costs

This regulatory change is not expected to affect the currently approved contribution rates of the Government to the Public Service pension fund/account and therefore should not incur additional costs.

Consultation

The Public Service Pension Advisory Committee has been consulted and has agreed with the change in interest rate. This committee has a statutory mandate to review matters respecting the administration, design and funding of the PSSA and to make recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board.

Consultations were also held with the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

Compliance and Enforcement

The normal legislative, regulatory and administrative compliance structures will apply, including internal audits and the usual reports to Parliament and affected members. These Regulations deal solely with the internal administration of the Public Service.

Contact

Joan M. Arnold, Director, Pensions Legislation Development, Pensions Division, Treasury Board Secretariat, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5, (613) 952-3119.

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Treasury Board, pursuant to Paragraph 42.1(1)(v.3) of the Public Service Superannuation Act and paragraph 7(2)(a) of the Financial Administration Act proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Public Service Superannuation Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Phil Charko, Assistant Secretary, Pensions Division, Treasury Board Secretariat, L'Esplanade Laurier, 300 Laurier Avenue West, 5th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5.

LUCIENNE ROBILLARD

President of the Treasury Board

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE PUBLIC SERVICE SUPERANNUATION REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. Subsections 82(2) to (4) (see footnote 1)  of the Public Service Superannuation Regulations (see footnote 2)  are replaced by the following:

(2) In this section, "1996 closing balance" means the aggregate of all amounts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the definition "return of contributions" in subsection 10(1) of the Act, as it read on December 31, 1996, that have been paid by the contributor or transferred to the credit of the contributor before January 1, 1997, plus the interest thereon calculated in accordance with section 81.

(3) In this section, "March 31, 2002 closing balance" means the aggregate of

(a) the 1996 closing balance and the interest on it calculated in accordance with subsection (4), and
(b) the aggregate of all amounts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the definition "return of contributions" in subsection 10(1) of the Act that have been paid by the contributor or transferred to the credit of the contributor on or after January 1, 1997 up to and including March 31, 2002 and the interest thereon calculated in accordance with subsection (4).

(4) For the purposes of paragraphs 10(9)(b) and (c) of the Act in respect of each quarter that begins on or after January 1, 1997 and ends before April 1, 2002, interest shall be calculated at the rate determined under subsection 46(2) on the aggregate of

(a) the 1996 closing balance,
(b) the aggregate of all amounts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the definition "return of contributions" in subsection 10(1) of the Act that have been paid by the contributor or transferred to the credit of the contributor on or after January 1, 1997 and before the end of the preceding quarter, and
(c) interest calculated in accordance with this subsection as of the end of the quarter preceding the quarter for which the interest is being calculated.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph 10(9)(c) of the Act, in respect of each quarter that begins on or after April 1, 2002, interest shall be calculated at the rate determined under subsection (6) on the aggregate of

(a) the March 31, 2002 closing balance,

(b) the aggregate of all amounts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the definition "return of contributions" in subsection 10(1) of the Act that have been paid by the contributor or transferred to the credit of the contributor on or after April 1, 2002 and before the end of the preceding quarter, and

(c) the interest calculated in accordance with this subsection as of the end of the quarter preceding the quarter for which interest is being calculated.

(6) The rate of interest to be used for the purpose of subsection (5) is the effective quarterly rate determined from the annual rate of return of the Public Service Pension Fund published in the previous fiscal year's annual report for the Public Sector Pension Investment Board as laid before each House of Parliament under subsection 48(3) of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act.

(7) If the annual rate of return referred to in subsection (6) is negative, the rate of interest shall be zero per cent.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

[18-1-o]

 Footnote 1 

SOR/97-2

 Footnote 2 

C.R.C., c. 1358; SOR/93-450

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with hypertext language (HTML). Its content is very similar except for the footnotes, the symbols and the tables.

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