Ontario releases proposed amendments to PBA regulation

Disclosure of environmental, social and governance factors in statements of investment policies and procedures

The proposed amendment would do the following:

• require plan administrators to file statements of investment policies and procedures (SIPPs) with the regulator;
• require plan assets to be invested in accordance with the SIPP;
• require SIPPs to include information about whether and, if so, how ESG factors are incorporated; and,
• require annual statements to members to include information about the purpose of SIPPs.

Statements for former and retired members

“The draft regulations are very similar to the April proposals in that the content of the new statements for former members and retirees will be very similar to annual statements, which must now be provided to active plan members pursuant to Section 27 of the PBA and Section 40 of the regulations,” the publication states. “However, the draft regulations differ from the April proposals (and the information required to be provided in member annual statements) in that details relating to the particular former member’s or retiree’s participation in the plan (e.g., date of termination/retirement, years of credited service) do not need to be included in the statements.”

Commuted value transfers from Ontario plans to plans in other Canadian jurisdictions

The government is proposing to amend Subsection 20(3) of the general regulation so that it applies only to Section 42(1)(b) and (c) of the act. Along with the amendments to Section 42 of the sct (not yet proclaimed), this would make it easier for individuals to transfer the commuted value of their pension benefits from an Ontario plan to a plan elsewhere in Canada when they change employment, allowing individuals to consolidate their pension benefits if the receiving plan so allows.

Comments may be submitted to the Ministry of Finance by Oct. 24.

Related article:

Ontario proposes changes to pension regulations