Pensions In The Context Of Cross-Border Merger And Acquisitions: A Canadian Perspective

Being able to navigate through the complicated pension landscape in Canada has become increasingly important with the surge in M&A activity in recent years and the phenomenal growth particularly in cross-border transactions. These transactions therefore require a comprehensive understanding of the issues regarding pension and employee benefits. A lack of clarity in the case law, combined with minimal legislation and restrictive policies established by regulatory bodies, has created an uncertain legal environment in this area. And recent legal developments have made pension plan mergers in Canada even more complicated.

Given this background, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of the law regarding pension plan mergers in Canada, with a focus on registered pension plans from an Ontario law perspective.¹