Discrimination And Equality Issues In Pension Plan Administration In The Wake Of Fraser V. Canada

Length of service is the currency for many pension plan entitlement decisions: the more service that is put in by a member, the more that member can expect to receive from their pension. This raises a key question: do pension plans need to account for the impact of systemic barriers to equal participation in the workplace?

In Fraser v Canada (Attorney General)¹, the Supreme Court of Canada considered this question, and confirmed that what appears on its face to be a neutral element of a pension program could in fact constitute adverse impact discrimination, infringing the equality guarantee contained in section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Supreme Court's decision in Fraser has important implications for companies: not only with respect to the constitutional compliance of pension fund design, but also regarding workplace equality issues more generally.