PBA Amendments In Response To Carrigan Case Become Law

Following the recent provincial election, Ontario's Liberal government re-introduced the budget bill which had been defeated during the last session of the legislature. With the Liberals' new majority in the legislature, the budget bill passed easily this time around. Bill 14, the Building Opportunity and Securing Our Future Act (Budget Measures) Act, 2014, received royal assent on July 24, 2014.

Among other things, the budget bill re-introduced changes to the Pension Benefits Act (PBA) to address the October 31, 2012 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Carrigan v. Carrigan Estate.

Ontario Court of Appeal Decision

In a previous blog post, we set out in detail the implications of the Carrigan case, which essentially established a new priority scheme for the payment of pre-retirement death benefits, and by extension joint-and-survivor benefits, under the PBA.