Marginal note:Transfer of assets to new plan

• 43. (1) An employer that provides a pooled registered pension plan to a class of employees and enters into a contract with an administrator to provide a new pooled registered pension plan to that class must cause the assets of the former plan to be transferred to the new plan and must provide the notification referred to in subsection 41(2) to the employees in that class.

• Marginal note:No membership termination

  (2) Despite subsection 41(5), the employees who were members of the former pooled registered pension plan are not entitled to terminate their membership in the new pooled registered pension plan and the notice provided to them under subsection 41(2) is not to include the information referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

• Marginal note:Costs

  (3) The employer is responsible for all of the costs in relation to the transfer of assets from one pooled registered pension plan to another.

Marginal note:Termination of membership

44. A member of a pooled registered pension plan, other than one who has become a member under section 39 or 40, may terminate their membership in the plan by notifying the administrator.

Contributions

Marginal note:Contribution rates

• 45. (1) The contribution rates in respect of members of a pooled registered pension plan, and any increases to those rates, are set by the administrator. The administrator must inform members of the contribution rates and of any increases.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subject to the regulations, a member may, after notifying the administrator, set a contribution rate of 0%.

Marginal note:Deductions from remuneration

46. The employer may begin to deduct a member’s contributions to the pooled registered pension plan from the member’s remuneration no earlier than 61 days after the day on which the administrator or employer provides the notice referred to in subsection 41(2).

Locking-in

Marginal note:Provisions respecting locking-in

• 47. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and any other provision of this Act and the regulations, a pooled registered pension plan must provide that

  • (a) the funds in an account with the plan, or any interest or right in those funds, are not capable of being transferred, charged, attached, anticipated or given as security and that any transaction appearing to do so is void or, in Quebec, null;

  • (b) an interest or right in the funds in a member’s account is not capable of being surrendered;

  • (c) a member is not permitted to withdraw the funds in their account; and

  • (d) an administrator is not permitted to withdraw the funds from a member’s account.

• Marginal note:Optional provisions

  (2) A pooled registered pension plan may provide that

  • (a) in the case of a disability as defined by the regulations, a member may withdraw the funds in their account; and

  • (b) if the amount of funds in the member’s account is — subject to any other percentage that may be prescribed — less than 20% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings for the year in which the member dies, in which the member provides the notification referred to in section 44 or in which the member is no longer employed by an employer that is participating in the plan, the funds in the account may be withdrawn by the member or survivor, as the case may be.

Variable Payments

Marginal note:Election

48. A pooled registered pension plan may provide that a member who has reached the prescribed age that is fixed for the purposes of this section may elect to receive variable payments from the funds in their account.

Marginal note:Entitlement of survivor

49. In the case of the death of a member who had a spouse or common-law partner at the time at which variable payments commenced, the survivor is entitled to receive — subject to the regulations, the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations — variable payments from the funds in the member’s account.

Marginal note:Transfer or purchase of annuity

• 50. (1) At least once every year, or more frequently if the pooled registered pension plan permits, a member or their survivor who receives variable payments may elect

  • (a) to transfer the funds in the member’s account to an account for the member or survivor, as the case may be, with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) to transfer the funds in the member’s account to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be; or

  • (c) to use the funds in the member’s account to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Notification and effect to notification

  (2) A member or survivor must notify the administrator of their intention to make the election referred to in subsection (1) and the administrator must, without delay, take the necessary action to give effect to the notification.

• Marginal note:Transfer in case of death

  (3) The survivor may also, if he or she notifies the administrator of their intention to do so within 90 days after the death of the member or, in the case where the Superintendent permits a longer period under paragraph 57(1)(e) for giving the statement referred to in that paragraph, within 60 days after the day on which the administrator gives that statement,

  • (a) transfer the funds in the member’s account to an account for the survivor with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) transfer the funds in the member’s account to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for the survivor; or

  • (c) use the funds in the member’s account to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for the survivor.

• Marginal note:Effect to notification

  (4) The administrator must, without delay, take the necessary action to give effect to the notification.

Marginal note:Cessation

51. Before an administrator may cease to make the variable payments referred to in section 48 and 49, the administrator must offer the member or survivor who receives those variable payments the options set out in subsection 50(1).

Death of Member

Marginal note:Entitlement of survivor

• 52. (1) In the case of the death of a member who had a spouse or common-law partner at the time of death, the survivor is entitled to the funds in the member’s account.

• Marginal note:Designated beneficiary or estate or succession

  (2) If a member dies without leaving a survivor, the funds in the member’s account are to be paid, subject to the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations, to the member’s designated beneficiary or, if there is none, to the member’s estate or succession.

• Marginal note:Surrender of funds in account

  (3) If a pooled registered pension plan provides that a member’s survivor may surrender their right or interest in the funds in the member’s account, in writing, to a beneficiary designated by the survivor who is the survivor’s or member’s dependant as defined in subsection 8500(1) of the Income Tax Regulations, the funds in the member’s account are to be paid to that designated beneficiary.

Divorce, Annulment, Separation or Breakdown of Common-law Partnership

Meaning of “provincial law relating to the distribution of property”

• 53. (1) In this section, “provincial law relating to the distribution of property” means the law of a province relating to the distribution of property, in accordance with a court order or an agreement between them,

  • (a) of spouses on divorce, annulment or separation; or

  • (b) of former common-law partners on the breakdown of their common-law partnership.

• Marginal note:Funds in member’s account

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the funds in the account of a member with a pooled registered pension plan are, on divorce, annulment, separation or breakdown of common-law partnership, subject to provincial law relating to the distribution of property.

• Marginal note:Power to transfer to spouse, etc.

  (3) A member of a pooled registered pension plan may transfer all or a portion of the funds in their account to their spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner, effective as of divorce, annulment, separation, or breakdown of the common-law partnership, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Spouse, etc., must transfer

  (4) The spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner to whom all or a portion of the funds in a member’s account are transferred under subsection (3) must

  • (a) transfer those funds to an account for him or her with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) transfer those funds to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for him or her; or

  • (c) use those funds to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for him or her.

• Marginal note:Duty of administrator

  (5) On divorce, annulment, separation or breakdown of a common-law partnership, if a court order or an agreement between the parties provides for the distribution of property between a member and their spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner, the administrator must determine and administer the member’s account in the prescribed manner and in accordance with the court order or the agreement on receipt of

  • (a) a written request from either the member or their spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner that all or part of the funds in the member’s account be distributed or administered in accordance with the court order or the agreement; and

  • (b) a copy of the court order or the agreement.

  However, in the case of a court order, the administrator must not administer the member’s account in accordance with the court order until all appeals from that order have been finally determined or the time for appealing has expired.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (6) On receipt of a request referred to in paragraph (5)(a), the administrator must notify the non-requesting spouse, former spouse or former common-law partner of the request and must provide that person with a copy of the court order or agreement submitted in support of the request, but this requirement does not apply in respect of a request or an agreement received by the administrator in a form or manner that indicates that it was jointly submitted.

Transfer of Funds and Purchase of Life Annuities

Marginal note:Who may transfer funds

• 54. (1) The following persons may, in accordance with subsection (2), transfer or use funds from their account with a pooled registered pension plan:

  • (a) a member who is no longer employed by an employer that is participating in the plan;

  • (b) a member who has provided the notice referred to in section 44;

  • (c) a member of a plan that has been terminated under section 62; or

  • (d) the survivor of a member.

• Marginal note:Transfer of funds

  (2) If the member or survivor, as the case may be, notifies the administrator within the prescribed time or, in the case where the Superintendent permits a longer period under paragraph 57(1)(d) or (e) for giving the statement referred to in any of those paragraphs, within 60 days after the day on which the administrator gives that statement, the funds in the member’s account may be

  • (a) transferred to an account for the member or the survivor, as the case may be, with a pooled registered pension plan or another pension plan, if that plan permits;

  • (b) transferred to a retirement savings plan of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be; or

  • (c) used to purchase an immediate or deferred life annuity of the prescribed kind for the member or survivor, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Effect to notification

  (3) The administrator must, without delay, take the necessary action to give effect to the notification.

Marginal note:Transfer of funds at prescribed age

55. On or after January 1 of the year following the year in which a member reaches the prescribed age that is fixed for the purposes of this section, the administrator may transfer the funds in the member’s account with the pooled registered pension plan to a prescribed account.

Sex Discrimination Prohibited

Marginal note:Sex discrimination prohibited

56. The sex of a member or of their spouse, former spouse, common-law partner or former common-law partner must not be taken into account in determining the amount of any contribution required to be paid by the member under a pooled registered pension plan.

Rights to Information

Marginal note:Provisions respecting information

• 57. (1) A pooled registered pension plan must provide

  • (a) that each member and each employer that is participating in the plan will be given, in the prescribed circumstances and in the prescribed time and manner,

    • (i) a written explanation of the provisions of the plan and of any applicable amendments to the plan, and

    • (ii) any other information that is prescribed;

  • (b) that each member of the plan will be given, in the prescribed circumstances and manner, and within 45 days after the end of each year or any longer period specified by the Superintendent, a written statement showing

    • (i) the value of accumulated contributions made under the plan, expressed in the prescribed manner, by or in respect of the member since the member became a member, and

    • (ii) any other information that is prescribed;

  • (c) that each member of the plan, and their spouse or common-law partner may, once in each year, either personally or by an agent or mandatary authorized in writing for that purpose, request, in writing, copies of the documents or information filed with the Superintendent under subsection 12(2), sections 13 and 58, as well as any other prescribed documents, from the Canadian head office of the administrator;

  • (d) that, if a member has provided notice under section 44, has been provided notice under subsection 62(4) or is no longer employed by an employer that is participating in the plan, the administrator must give to the member a statement, in the prescribed form, of the funds in their account within 30 days after the day on which the notice was provided or the employee’s employment with the employer ceased or any longer period permitted by the Superintendent; and

  • (e) that, in the case of a member’s death, the administrator must give to the survivor, if there is one, to the member’s designated beneficiary if the administrator has been notified of the designation and there is no survivor, or, in every other case, to the executor or administrator of the member’s estate or to the liquidator of the member’s succession a statement, in the prescribed form, of the funds in the member’s account within 30 days after the day on which the administrator received notice of the death or any longer period permitted by the Superintendent.

• Marginal note:Administrator’s duty

  (2) The administrator must, without delay, provide, on the payment of any reasonable fee that the administrator may fix, the documents requested under paragraph (1)(c).

Duty to Provide Information

Marginal note:Annual reporting requirements

• 58. (1) The administrator of a pooled registered pension plan must file with the Superintendent — annually or at any other intervals or times that the Superintendent directs — an information return relating to that plan, containing the prescribed information.

• Marginal note:Financial statements and other information

  (2) The administrator of a pooled registered pension plan must file with the Superintendent prescribed financial statements and any other prescribed information at any intervals or times that the Superintendent directs.

• Marginal note:Financial statements

  (3) Except as otherwise specified by the Superintendent, the financial statements must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the primary source of which is the Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

• Marginal note:Form and manner of filings and time limit

  (4) Every document required to be filed under this section must be filed in the form and manner that the Superintendent may direct and, unless otherwise directed by the Superintendent, be filed within three months after the end of the year to which the document relates.

Marginal note:Information to members

59. The administrator must provide to the members, at the time and in the manner specified by the Superintendent, any information that the Superintendent specifies.

Marginal note:Information to Superintendent

60. The employer and the administrator must provide to the Superintendent, at the time and in the manner specified by the Superintendent, any information that the Superintendent specifies.

TERMINATION AND WINDING-UP

Marginal note:Termination of pooled registered pension plan

61. Only the Superintendent or the administrator may terminate a pooled registered pension plan.

Marginal note:Deemed termination

• 62. (1) The revocation of registration of a pooled registered pension plan is deemed to constitute the termination of the plan.

• Marginal note:Superintendent may declare plan terminated

  (2) The Superintendent may declare a pooled registered pension plan terminated if

  • (a) a bankruptcy order has been made against the administrator under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act;

  • (b) the administrator is the subject of a winding-up order under the Winding-up and Restructuring Act;

  • (c) the administrator is the subject of proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or Part III of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act; or

  • (d) the administrator has discontinued or is in the process of discontinuing its business operations.

• Marginal note:Date of termination

  (3) The Superintendent’s declaration must specify that a pooled registered pension plan is terminated as of the date that the Superintendent considers appropriate in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Notification — employers and members

  (4) An administrator must, not less than 60 days and not more than 180 days before the date on which it terminates a pooled registered pension plan, provide written notification of this termination to the employers that are participating in the plan and the members of the plan. The notice must specify the date of the termination.

• Marginal note:Notification — Superintendent

  (5) An administrator must, not less than 60 and not more than 180 days before the date on which it terminates or winds up a pooled registered pension plan, provide notification of this termination or winding-up to the Superintendent. The notice must specify the date of the termination or winding up and be in the form and manner directed by the Superintendent.

• Marginal note:Termination or winding up effective

  (6) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), the termination is effective only if the administrator notifies the Superintendent in accordance with subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Payments into members’ accounts

  (7) If a pooled registered pension plan is terminated, the employer must remit to the administrator, and the administrator must pay into the members’ accounts, all amounts that are due as of the date of the termination.

• Marginal note:Effect of termination on assets

  (8) On the termination of a pooled registered pension plan, the assets of the plan continue to be subject to this Act.

• Marginal note:Termination report

  (9) On the termination of a pooled registered pension plan, the administrator of the plan must file with the Superintendent, in the form and manner that the Superintendent may direct, a termination report prepared by a person having the prescribed qualifications. The report must also set out the amounts referred to in subsection (7) — calculated as of the date of termination — and contain any prescribed information.

• Marginal note:Assets not to be used or transferred

  (10) Assets of the pooled registered pension plan must not be used or transferred for any purpose until the Superintendent has approved the termination report. However, the administrator of the plan may make variable payments, as they fall due, to any persons entitled to receive them.

• Marginal note:Superintendent may direct winding-up

  (11) If a pooled registered pension plan has been terminated and the Superintendent is of the opinion that no action or insufficient action has been taken to wind up the plan, the Superintendent may direct the administrator to distribute the funds in the members’ accounts and may direct that any expenses incurred in connection with that distribution be paid out of the members’ accounts, and the administrator must comply with that direction without delay.