Ontario is making it easier for people who need to access their locked-in retirement funds by restructuring its financial hardship-unlocking program.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, individuals can apply directly to their financial institution for financial hardship withdrawals, rather than to the Superintendent of Financial Services.
The government is also reducing the amount of evidence required to authorize a withdrawal. And the asset test that determines how much can be unlocked from an account will be replaced with a maximum withdrawal limit.
The seven criteria under which an applicant can apply for financial hardship unlocking will be consolidated into four: rental or mortgage arrears, medical expenses, payment of first and last month’s rent, and low income. An individual will not be able to make more than one application under each of the four financial hardship criteria per year.
“These measures will make it easier for those struggling with loss of income or medical expenses to get access to their locked-in accounts,” says Charles Sousa, the province’s minister of finance.
Locked-in funds are amounts transferred from an Ontario registered pension plan into an Ontario locked-in account (locked-in retirement accounts, life income funds and locked-in retirement income funds) where they are held to provide income in retirement.
The restructuring of the financial hardship-unlocking program was a commitment in the 2012 budget.
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