On June 20, 2016, Canada’s Finance Ministers reached an
historic agreement to improve core retirement income benefits under
the CPP. The agreement followed years of tumultuous pension
politics, including an outright refusal in December 2013 by the
Harper Government to consider any changes to the CPP.
Following the breakdown in federal-provincial CPP discussions,
the Wynne Government campaigned on a commitment to CPP reform or,
if Ottawa exercised its veto, to a made-in-Ontario “Ontario
Retirement Pension Plan” (“ORPP”).
Ontario did in fact introduce three pieces of legislation to
establish the ORPP. It created the ORPP Administration Corporation
(“ORPPAC”), appointed a Board of Directors, created a
plan text and a funding policy and commissioned an initial
valuation of the Plan. The ORPPAC Board hired a CEO and staff,
leased premises, issued RFPs for key services and prepared to bring
the ORPP on stream effective January 1, 2018.
