Alberta is moving forward with sweeping pension reforms in the
new Employment Pension Plans Act
(EPPA) and regulations, which come into effect on
September 1, 2014. Alberta's new approach of providing
comprehensive and specific rules for various types of pension plan
designs is a welcome change from the "one size fits all
model" employed in many other Canadian jurisdictions.
Although this article focuses on target benefits, there are
numerous other changes in the new EPPA. If you sponsor a pension
plan with members in the province of Alberta, a compliance review
is in order to ensure that the new requirements are met.
New Design Option
Among the many changes in the new EPPA, is the introduction of a
comprehensive target benefit plan (TBP) regime. Alberta is the
second jurisdiction, after New Brunswick, to implement
comprehensive TBP rules as a design option for plans registered in
the province.