Report on the Administration of the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2017

From Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

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, the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act and the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act.

Year at a glance

Active contributors decreased by 1.0% to 1,157 members (1,169 members in 2016).
Retired members and survivors decreased by 1.5% to 1,350 members (1,371 members in 2016).
As a result of indexation, pension benefits were increased by 1.3% in January 2017 (1.3% in January 2016).

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 January 1, 1974, 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 Public Service Superannuation Act, the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act and the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act 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 January 1, 1974, 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 previous section, the appropriate portions of the account were transferred to the superannuation accounts established under the Public Service Superannuation Act, the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act and the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act. These transfers have greatly reduced the size of the account.

Membership statistics

As at March 31, 2017, there were 1,157 members (1,169 members in 2016) contributing to the account and 1,350 retired members and survivors (1,371 members in 2016).

Figure 1 shows the number of contributors relative to the number of retired members and survivors from 2008 to 2017.

Bar chart representing the contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2008 to 2017. See text version below for details. — **Figure 1. Contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2008 to 2017**

**Figure 1. Contributors, and retired members and survivors from 2008 to 2017**
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Contributors	1,093	1,093	1,119	1,146	1,140	1,132	1,147	1,171	1,169	1,157
Retired members and survivors	1,809	1,750	1,739	1,642	1,625	1,582	1,534	1,410	1,371	1,350

Funding

Between April 1, 1970, and December 31, 1976, members contributed 0.5% of their salary. Effective January 1, 1977, 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 that have a term to maturity of 5 years, reduced by 0.125%.

Account transactions

In fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, total receipts from contributors and the government, including interest, amounted to $8.69 million ($8.81 million in fiscal year ended March 31, 2016).

The total amount paid under the SRBA was $30.33 million ($30.70 million in fiscal year ended March 31, 2016), of which $20,721 ($25,819 in fiscal year ended March 31, 2016) was charged to the account; the remaining $30.31 million ($30.67 million in fiscal year ended March 31, 2016) 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 $224.53 million ($215.86 million in fiscal year ended March 31, 2016).

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 March 31, 2017 ($ thousands)^{table 1 note 1}
Receipts
	2017	2016
Table 1 Notes Table 1 Note 1 Due to rounding, figures differ slightly from those in 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)	215,856	207,072
Contributions
Members	3,596	3,625
Government	3,583	3,625
Interest	1,515	1,560
Total receipts (B)	8,694	8,810
Payments
Annuities ^{table 1 note 2}	30,326	30,700
Less charges to Consolidated Revenue Fund in accordance with subsection 8(2) of the SRBA ^{table 1 note 2}	30,306	30,674
Net payments (C)	20	26
Increase (B – C = D)	8,674	8,784
Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account, closing balance (A + D)	224,530	215,856

Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account statement
Details of receipts and payments for fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 ($ thousands)^{table 2 note 1}
Receipts
	Judges	Others	Total
Table 2 Notes Table 2 Note 1 Due to rounding, figures differ slightly from those in the Public Accounts of Canada. Return to table 2 note 1 referrer Table 2 Note 2 In addition to these charges to the account, $30.31 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)	215,089	767	215,856
Contributions
Members	3,558	38	3,596
Government	3,558	25	3,583
Interest	1,509	6	1,515
Total receipts (B)	8,625	69	8,694
Payments
Annuities ^{table 2 note 2}	0	20	20
Return of contributions	0	0	0
Total Payments (C)	0	20	20
Increase (B – C = D)	8,625	49	8,674
Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account, closing balance (A + D)	223,714	816	224,530

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2018,
Catalogue No. BT1-12E-PDF, ISSN: 1489-4866

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Date modified:: 2022-03-31

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