Recent Québec Pension Cases With Potential Cross-Canada Impact

This article was originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Pensions & Employee Benefits-August 2004

As in its politics and culture, Québec is a "distinct society" when it comes to the administration of pension plans. Its Supplemental Pension Plans Act(SPPA) includes many requirements that do not exist in other jurisdictions. That said, the basic principles for administering pension plans are quite similar to those in the rest of Canada and, therefore, some recent Québec cases could have cross-country impact.

The pension plan community is awaiting a Québec Court of Appeal ruling in a high-profile dispute over the obligations of pension plan administrators and pension committees to act in an even-handed manner when the interests of different classes of participants and beneficiaries are in conflict. In Association provinciale des retraités d’Hydro-Québec v. Hydro-Québec, a group of retirees alleges Hydro-Québec, as trustee of the pension plan,