Report on the Administration of the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2016

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada,
represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2017

Catalogue No. BT1-12E-PDF
ISSN: 1489-4866

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada

Excellency:

I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency, the Report on the Administration of the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act for the Fiscal Year Ended .

Respectfully submitted,

Original signed by

The Honourable Scott Brison, P.C., M.P.
President of the Treasury Board

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act (SRBA) applies primarily to pension benefits payable to federal judges under the Judges Act, as well as to pension benefits payable under other statutes listed in Schedule I of the SRBA, such as the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act, the Lieutenant Governors Superannuation Act, the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act.

The SRBA does not apply to pension benefits payable under the major federal public service pension plans governed by the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act (CFSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act (RCMPSA) and the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (MPRAA).

Year at a glance, fiscal year ended

  • Active contributors decreased by 0.2% to 1,169 members (1,171 members in 2015).
  • Retired members and survivors decreased by 2.8% to 1,371 members (1,410 members in 2015).
  • As a result of indexation, pension benefits were increased by 1.3% in (1.7% in ).

Historical context

The SRBA provides supplementary benefits for recipients of pensions or allowances payable under the acts or regulations listed in Schedule I of the SRBA.

Effective , an annual increase in pensions reflecting the full increase in the cost of living was permitted, payable starting in January of each year. This increase is based on the percentage increase in the average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12 months ended on the preceding September 30, over the CPI average for the 12 months ended a year earlier. Since 1982, the legislation has required that the increase payable in the first year after a person retires be pro-rated to the number of complete months of retirement in the previous year.

In 1992, the SRBA was amended to reflect changes being made to the PSSA, the CFSA, the RCMPSA and the MPRAA and no longer applied to pension benefits payable under these statutes. Consequently, these statutes were amended to incorporate the authority to provide increases in their respective pensions as if they were determined under the SRBA.

Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account

The SRBA establishes an account known as the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account (the account) in the Public Accounts of Canada. Plan members who have not yet retired, except the Governor General, contribute to the account. The government matches these contributions.

Before , all supplementary benefits were charged to the account. Since that date, however, the benefits paid to former contributors have been charged to the account only until they equal the total amount credited to the account. Supplementary benefits paid in excess of that total are charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Under the 1992 amendments mentioned in the preceding section, the appropriate portions of the account were transferred to the superannuation accounts established under the PSSA, the CFSA, the RCMPSA and the MPRAA. These transfers have greatly reduced the size of the account.

Membership statistics

At , there were 1,169 members (1,171 members in 2015) contributing to the account and 1,371 retired members and survivors (1,410 members in 2015).

Figure 1 shows the number of contributors relative to the number of retired members and survivors from 2007 to 2016.

Figure 1. Contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2007 to 2016

Bar chart representing the contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2007 to 2016.  See text version below for details.

Figure 1 - Text version
Figure 1. Contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2007 to 2016
  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Contributors 1,101 1,193 1,093 1,119 1,146 1,140 1,132 1,147 1,171 1,169
Retired members and survivors 1,880 1,809 1,750 1,739 1,642 1,625 1,582 1,534 1,410 1,371

Funding

Between , and , members contributed 0.5% of their salary. Effective , this rate was increased to 1%.

Interest on the account is payable at the end of each quarter. It is calculated monthly on the minimum balance in the account at an interest rate that represents the yield on outstanding Government of Canada bonds having a term to maturity of five years, less 0.125% of 1%.

Account transactions

In fiscal year ended , total receipts from contributors and the government, including interest, amounted to $8.81 million ($9.81 million in fiscal year ended ).

The total amount paid under the SRBA was $30.70 million ($31.18 million in fiscal year ended ), of which $25,819 ($35,533 in fiscal year ended ) was charged to the account; the remaining $30.67 million ($31.14 million in fiscal year ended ) was charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in accordance with subsection 8(2) of the SRBA.

The balance in the account at the end of the year was $215.86 million ($207.07 million in fiscal year ended ).

Details of the transactions in the account during the fiscal year appear in the “Account transaction statements” section.

Account transaction statements

Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account statement
Fiscal year ended ($ thousands)table 1 note 1
  2016 2015

Table 1 Notes

Table 1 Note 1

Due to rounding, figures differ slightly from the Public Accounts of Canada.

Return to table 1 note 1 referrer

Table 1 Note 2

This information does not reflect exactly the information presented in the Public Accounts of Canada. Annuities and charges to the Consolidated Revenue Fund are supplementary information included to reflect all payments made under the authority of the SRBA. The amounts charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund are not charged to the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account due to an exclusion under subsection 8(2) of the SRBA. The amount of charges to the Consolidated Revenue Fund reported in this statement is calculated based on financial information provided directly by several organizations responsible for processing SRBA benefit payments, such as the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada, Canadian Heritage, National Defence and the Senate of Canada.

Return to table 1 note 2 referrer

Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account,
opening balance (A)
207,072 197,294
Receipts 
Contributions
Members
3,625 3,425
Government
3,625 3,425
Interest
1,560 2,964
Total receipts (B) 8,810 9,814
Payments 
Annuities table 1 note 2
30,700 31,180
Less charges to Consolidated Revenue Fund
 in accordance with subsection 8(2) of the SRBA table 1 note 2
30,674 31,144
Net payments (C) 26 36
Increase (B – C = D) 8,784 9,778
Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account,
closing balance (A + D)
215,856 207,072
Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account statement
Details of receipts and payments for fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 ($ thousands)table 2 note 1
  Judges Others Total

Table 2 Notes

Table 2 Note 1

Due to rounding, figures differ slightly from the Public Accounts of Canada.

Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Table 2 Note 2

In addition to these charges to the account, $30.67 million was charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund under subsection 8(2) of the SRBA, as reported in the previous statement. The information in this statement is similar to that reported in the Public Accounts of Canada.

Return to table 2 note 2 referrer

Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account,
opening balance (A)
206,383 689 207,072
Receipts
Contributions
Members
3,576 49 3,625
Government
3,576 49 3,625
Interest
1,554 6 1,560
Total receipts (B) 8,706 104 8,810
Payments
Annuities table 2 note 2
0 26 26
Return of contributions
0 0 0
Total Payments (C) 0 26 26
Increase (B – C = D) 8,706 78 8,784
Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account,
closing balance (A + D)
215,089 767 215,856

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