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ARTICLE · 28 MARCH 2006

Pension and Employee Benefits: Regulatory & New Case Developments

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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The law relating to pensions and employee benefits continues to undergo significant and ongoing change, including clarification of the plan administrator’s duty to disclose information about proposed amendments, jurisdictional limits of provincial pension laws and courts, right of employers and unions to negotiate use of surplus, and a variety of legislative and regulatory initiatives.

CanadaEmployment and HR
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Article by Jeffrey Sommers, ©2006 Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

This article was originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Pension and Employee Benefits- January 2006

The law relating to pensions and employee benefits continues to undergo significant and ongoing change, including clarification of the plan administrator’s duty to disclose information about proposed amendments, jurisdictional limits of provincial pension laws and courts, right of employers and unions to negotiate use of surplus, and a variety of legislative and regulatory initiatives.

DECIDED COURT CASES

Disclosure of Pension Plan Amendments.


Hembruff v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board is a significant case dealing with a pension plan administrator’s duty to communicate pending plan amendments to plan members. The lower court’s finding that potential amendments must be disclosed if they would be material to decisions made by members was very troubling to plan administrators. In November 2005, the

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