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Standing Technical Advisory Committee for Defined Benefit Single Employer Pension Plans (SEPP)

Meeting summary

Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Videoconference

This summary sets out the key points discussed at the March 7, 2023 meeting.

General items

  • FSRA updated the committee on the recently published guidance on actions that the administrator can take to comply with the federal Income Tax Act. FSRA also provided updates on upcoming guidance documents, including guidance related to plan amendments and proposed all-sector guidance on IT risk management, and general AMPs.

Member-focused work

  • FSRA updated the committee on the first Pension Awareness Day in February 2023. The committee was also updated on recent and upcoming work that is part of the Member Resource Centre, and other related updates to FSRA’s website.

Guidance updates

  •  FSRA updated the committee on the recently published guidance on actions that the administrator can take to comply with the federal Income Tax Act. FSRA also provided updates on upcoming guidance documents, including guidance related to plan amendments and proposed all-sector guidance on IT risk management, and general AMPs.

New working group

  • FSRA discussed a new working group it is considering to intensively focus on proposed guidance. The committee gave feedback.

Improving regulatory harmonization across Canada

  • FSRA provided an update to the committee on the progress of work on various CAPSA guidelines.

Late filings

  • FSRA provided an update on the actions it has taken to address late filings, as a follow up to the October 2022 discussion. The committee provided feedback.

Proof of life audits

  • FSRA reiterated its expectations that administrators ensure comprehensive steps are taken to determine whether a pensioner or beneficiary has passed away before ceasing payment. The group gave feedback on whether guidance on this topic would be useful. 

Auditor general report

  • FSRA updated the committee on the work it was doing in relation to the report’s recommendations.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for June 2023.

Attendance record

Invited/Attended

Company Name

Attendance Status
(A)ttended; (R)egrets; (S)ubstitute; (VC)Videoconference

Claire Woodcock

FSRA – Director, Pension Plan Operations and Committee Co-Chair

A

Mitch Frazer

Torys LLP and Committee Co-Chair

VC

Andrea Boctor

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

VC

Jason Vary

Actuarial Solutions Inc.

A

Lisa Mills

BMKP Law LLP

VC

Louis Duranleau

Norman Beaudry

VC

Rohan Kumar

Willis Towers Watson

VC

Sandeep Kakan

Unifor

VC

Simon Nelson

Eckler Ltd.

VC

Steve Wilson

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

VC

Tejash Modi

Morneau Shepell

VC

William Jones

Canadian Federation of Pensioners

P

Winston Woo

AGS Automotive/Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters

VC

Daniel Padro, Dillon De Coteau, Jennifer Mullen, Karima Shajani, Lester Wong, Paul Dempsey, Paul Martiniello, Rhea Tubigan, Siddhartha Kalita, Tamara DeMos, Tim Thomson, Trevor McKillop

FSRA

VC

Jeff Sweeting, Krista Teichroeb, Pearl Vyas

MOF

VC

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