The Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions released its final report, entitled "A Fine Balance: Safe Pensions; Affordable Plans, Fair Rules" (the Report), which contains 142 recommendations to the Ontario government for "reforming and reinvigorating" the pension system in Ontario. The Ontario government has asked for "focused feedback" on the Report by February 27, 2009.
As the title of the Report indicates, the Commission was clearly trying to balance various stakeholder interests. Whether the Report got it right, and how and to what extent the Ontario government will act on the Report's recommendations, only time will tell.
Another theme or principle running through the Report was to "accept that one size doesn't fit all." Many of the Report's recommendations differentiate between single-employer pension plans (SEPPs); multi-employer pension plans (MEPPs) and jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs).
The Report, however, is not legislation; it only gives recommendations, many of which are quite broad. In this regard, the "devil is in the detail" and it will be up to the Ontario government to flesh out the recommendations as part of any legislation to reform Ontario's Pension Benefits Act (the PBA).
This Update summarizes the key recommendations under the following headings: (i) Funding; (ii) Surplus; (iii) Restructuring Businesses; (iv) Bankruptcies & Insolvencies; (v) Regulation; (vi) Governance; (vii) Investments; (viii) Innovative Pension Designs; and (ix) Future Reform. Also included at the end of this Update are the "word for word" excerpts of all of the Report's recommendations. A note of caution: the Report itself emphasizes that it must be viewed as an integrated whole; as a result, many of the recommendations are best understood when read in conjunction with their corresponding text in the Report.
To read the full Update, click here.
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