NB bulletins

For a second consecutive year, we are presenting the key social security parameters in electronic format. Quick and easy to use, this document is your reference for public pension plans and other retirement plans.

On December 11, the Government of Quebec adopted Bill 68, An Act mainly to allow the establishment of target benefit pension plans. As we explained in our October bulletin, this bill opens the door to other innovative retirement solutions for Quebecers.

This survey will be of particular interest to board members, executives, senior management and investment firms.

On November 1, 2020, the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) published the final text presenting the changes announced to Section 3462 (“Employee Future Benefits”) regarding the use of going concern valuations. With this publication, the AcSB confirms what it had suggested in the spring.

On October 7, the Government of Quebec presented Bill 68, An Act mainly to allow the establishment of target benefit pension plans, to the National Assembly. This bill opens the door to more innovative retirement solutions for Quebecers.

So much has been written about COVID-19 in recent months. However, a decision by the Superior Court of Quebec on the scope of Retraite Québec’s easing measures has caught our attention. These measures, issued at the start of the crisis, concern the fiduciary duties of a pension plan administrator.

On September 21, 2020, the Ontario government announced the option to defer contributions to certain defined benefit pension plans for eligible private sector employers to support their stability and sustainability, while guaranteeing the funding of the members’ benefits.

On August 31, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced the lifting of the freeze on transfer value payments and buy-out annuity purchases for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans, basing its decision on improved solvency ratios since the market lows of mid-March.

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a pension plan’s right to recover pension benefits paid to a missing person under a legal presumption of life, which was reversed by the discovery of the retiree’s body.

As announced in our last January bulletin, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries has issued revisions to Section 3500 of its Standards of Practice for determining commuted values for pension plans.

On July 15, the Quebec government published a draft regulation on Quebec-registered supplemental pension plans. The main goal of this draft regulation is to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every year on July 1, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) adjusts the rates for the public prescription drug insurance plan to take into account the increase or decrease in plan costs.

On June 18, 2020, the Ontario government announced temporary extensions to deadlines for filing certain documents with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) and for some member communications.

What are your plans for a gradual return to the workplace? Is the office dead? Discover the responses of 252 organizations in an interactive report that will allow you to filter results by industry, company size, and impact of the crisis on revenues.

Public sector standards, standards for private enterprises and not-for-profit organizations and international standards for the private sector.

This bulletin will be of particular interest to those who prepare financial statements.

Several private sector organizations must include the recognition of their obligations toward defined benefit pension plans (DB pension plans) and group benefits plans offered to retirees (other post-retirement benefits) in their financial statements.

Again this year, Normandin Beaudry’s specialists analyzed the annual reports of Canadian organizations listed on the S&P 60 Index (60 largest organizations) and on the S&P MidCap Index (mid-cap organizations) whose fiscal year ended between September 30 of the previous year and February 29 of the current year.

Beyond the reactive measures presented in our previous bulletin, we are currently witnessing fundamental social, societal, and organizational changes. The pandemic has shined a light on long-dormant issues that can no longer be avoided. One thing is certain, the labour shortages that had come to a head prior to the COVID-19 pandemic are not going anywhere—and their boomerang effect may be amplified by the development of collective awareness that will drive real change among organizations.

The health, economic and financial crisis that began earlier this year has resulted in severe economic decline and stock market volatility. The Canadian and U.S. prime rates and oil prices are tumbling to all-time lows. The economic repercussions of the pandemic have been brutal. Just like in 2008-2009, this slowdown will surely have an impact on the compensation management practices of organizations.

In this time of crisis, the government and the Bank of Canada have adopted immediate measures to support the economy. Organizations quickly followed suit.

Good news for multi-jurisdictional pension plans: most provinces and the Government of Canada have finally signed a new agreement, the 2020 Agreement Respecting Multi-jurisdictional Pension Plans (2020 Agreement), which will come into effect on July 1, 2020. The 2020 Agreement will provide a framework for the administration and regulation of these plans.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced that the Solvency Special Payments Relief Regulations (2020) came into effect on May 27, 2020.

The Regulations set out the application rules following the federal government’s April 15 announcement of a moratorium on solvency payments requirements for the remainder of 2020.

On May 22, 2020, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) published a guidance outlining its approach for reviewing applications to transfer commuted values or to purchase annuities when a pension plan’s transfer ratio (TR) has declined since the most recently filed valuation report by at least 10% and is now below 90%.

All organizations have been affected by the current pandemic. Some are struggling to survive while others must deal with an extraordinary demand for their products and services. Regardless of the situation, all must adapt to cope with this new reality. Sales force compensation is no exception. Here are three good practices to keep in mind

Private investments, so-called alternative investment funds, have been gaining popularity for more than a decade. These investments have proven to be a very interesting addition to traditional bonds and equities for institutional investors.

On April 15 and 16, 2020, Retraite Québec and the Department of Finance Canada announced relief measures to help pension plans registered in Quebec and at the federal level in response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government of Quebec’s Programme actions concertées pour le maintien en emploi (PACME) aims to provide direct financial support to businesses that have had to downsize due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Normandin Beaudry’s experts can assist you in enhancing training, implementing best practices in human resources management and optimizing the way your business operates.

On March 20, 2020, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (“FSRA”) published a brief Q&A in response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reminding administrators of various elements relating to the Pension Benefits Act (“PBA”) and informing them that processing delays should be expected for any filed pending transactions (e.g. pension asset transfers or wind-up applications).

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the economy will undoubtedly face major obstacles in the coming months. As a result, organizations that have not yet allocated their salary increases may have to significantly downgrade their initial budgets.

On March 27, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced a series of temporary measures in response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these measures, and in an unprecedented move, the OSFI announced the full suspension of all transfer value payments until further notice.

Dear Clients and Collaborators:

Our experts are working for you during this unprecedented crisis. We are fully operational, remotely, during our normal business hours.

To help you navigate this crisis and deal with all types of unusual events and situations:

Last week, we asked our remun members the following question: “How is your organization responding to COVID-19?” Here is a summary of our Canadian members’ responses.

Dear Clients and Collaborators,

For several years, Normandin Beaudry has kept an updated business continuity plan to ensure the recovery or continuation of its operations in the event of a disaster or emergency.

Normandin Beaudry intends to comply with the series of measures and restrictions implemented by public health authorities to slow the spread of COVID-19 and, thus, protect the health and safety of its employees and their families.

The Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) recently modified the standard of practice regarding the disclosures to include in actuarial valuation reports for the funding of pension plans. These new disclosures are intended to make plan sponsors aware of the various funding risks to which their pension plans are exposed. Plan sponsors will have to consider threats to their plans’ future financial condition under plausible adverse scenarios.

For the 2019 tax year, Canadian taxpayers could be entitled to a tax credit ranging from 4% to 20% of medical expenses incurred for themselves or their dependants. The credit is subject to certain conditions and depends on the province or territory of residence.

A new agreement has been reached between the Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires (AQPP, the provincial association of pharmacist-owners), insurers, and third-party payers. This is the first major update to occur since the creation of Quebec’s Public Prescription Drug Insurance (PPDIP) in 1997.

Since January­ 1, 2020, defined contribution (“DC”) pension plan sponsors may offer variable benefits under the Pension Benefits Act of Ontario from their pension plan. The variable benefit rules allow members of a DC pension plan to receive retirement income directly from the plan upon retirement, if allowed by the pension plan, as opposed to being required to transfer the balance of their DC account to an authorized vehicle or use it to purchase an annuity.

Several hot topics in the drug insurance industry caught our attention this past year, with many showing no signs of cooling off. We’ll be following things closely in 2020!

Here are the top 10 developments of 2019, in no particular order.

Amendments made to Section 3500 were published on January 24. Since they will have direct impacts on the day-to-day administration of pension plans, the CIA will have the changes come into force on August 1, 2020. The CIA’s intention is to give administrators sufficient time to adjust their systems in order to be in compliance with new calculation methods and to add the required disclosures.

Are you one of the many regular readers who expect these parameters to come in pyramid form? This year, we modernized the way we present key social security parameters. This new version is available in an electronic format. It has links to many pages with highly relevant content (click on the dog-eared page icons).