Archived - Harper Government Completes Public Target Benefit Plan Consultations

June 25, 2014 – Toronto, Ontario– Department of Finance Canada

Minister of State (Finance) Kevin Sorenson today held a roundtable meeting with pension experts and stakeholders to conclude 60-day public consultations on establishing a federal framework for Target Benefit Plans, or TBPs. TBPs would be a new, voluntary, sustainable and flexible pension option for federally regulated private sector and Crown corporation plan sponsors, employees and retirees under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985.

Over the course of consultations, the Government received extensive feedback on a proposed TBP framework that is intended to preserve and increase the number of employers that can offer employees an affordable workplace pension plan that has a predictable pension in retirement. The Government will now use this input to draft a legislative framework.

• There are currently 1,234 federally regulated pension plans in Canada.
• TBPs would promote plan sustainability through their ability to adjust benefits and contributions to help ensure the target benefit is met, and better deal with surplus or deficit situations.
• Because benefits are targeted and there is flexibility to adjust contributions and benefits, TBPs would not have a solvency funding requirement.
• The proposed framework would allow for the conversion of both defined benefit as well as defined contribution plans into TBPs, should all parties consent. All parties would also have a say in the design elements of the plan.
• A TBP would be available to any new pension plan created in the future.
• The proposed joint governance structure would reflect the risk-sharing nature of a TBP and ensure effective representation of employers, members and retirees.
• The consultations did not consider changes to federal public sector pension plans, which are governed by statutes such as the Public Service Superannuation Act, the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act. The Government has already taken steps to ensure that federal public sector pension plans are more in line with the private sector.

• Consultation Paper: Pension Innovation for Canadians – The Target Benefit Plan
• Frequently Asked Questions on Proposed Target Benefit Plan (TBP) Framework

Meagan Murdoch
Communications
Office of the Minister of State (Finance)
613-996-7861

Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-996-8080