A thousand members of the Anglican Church of Canada’s defined contribution pension plan are joining the General Synod pension plan, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
The Church-wide Lay employee pension system’s transition into the multi-employer pension plan is part of an expansion strategy to offer more Canadians better financial security in retirement, according to a press release.
The transition comes in response to a legislation change announced by the Ontario government in April 2019, which updated the target-benefit plan framework to include multi-employer pension plans with participating employers outside of the collective bargaining environment.
Read: Ontario sets out plans for target-benefit multi-employer pensions
Through the GSPP, employees and employers can determine the level of their contributions — and employers have no pension administration obligations other than to remit contributions.
Since the beginning of January, the GSPP has welcomed 60 employers with almost 1,000 active members. All new members had the opportunity to buy back years of service and, therefore, increase the GSPP pension they have earned to date, as well as consolidate their retirement savings. The GSPP has more than $1 billion in assets under management.
“The pension committee and board of trustees are dedicated to further innovation,” said Bishop Philip Poole, the GSPP’s pension committee chair, in the release. “They are also working in commitment to provide meaningful pension coverage to more Canadians. Employers are seeing the value in joining the GSPP, compared to their current plans, as it provides a sustainable lifetime pension for their employees. The GSPP is open for business and welcomes enquiries from interested employers.”
Read: A look at one of Canada’s oldest multi-employer target-benefit plans