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Standing Technical Advisory Committee for Multi-Employer Pension Plan (MEPP)

Meeting summary

Date: Thursday, February 22, 2023
Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Videoconference

This summary sets out the key points discussed at the February 22, 2023 meeting.

Committee membership

  • The committee thanked departing members.

Defined benefit MEPP leading practice benchmarking

  • FSRA updated the committee on its progress to date. FSRA will update on trends it is seeing by the summer. The committee gave feedback. 

Missing members

  • The committee discussed the possibility of greater access to government registries to search for missing members.

Target benefit framework

  • Ontario Ministry of Finance updated the committee on the upcoming consultation for a target benefit framework.

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.

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

Paul Martiniello

FSRA –Director, Relationship Management and Committee Co-Chair

VC

Susan Bird

Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada and Committee Co-Chair

VC

Alain Malaket

InBenefits

VC

Alex McKinnon

United Steelworkers

VC

Cameron McNeill

Segal

VC

Domenic Barbiero

Eckler Ltd.

VC

Doug LeFaive

GoldBlatt Partners

VC

Joan Tanaka

Prudent Benefits Administration Services Inc.

VC

Kim MacPherson

TEIBAS

VC

Laura Brownell

CUPE

VC

Lindsay McLeod

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

VC

Luc Girard

Mercer

VC

Michael Mazzuca

Koskie Minsky

R

Mike Neheli

Manion, Wilkins & Associates Ltd.

VC

Shenagh Rosa

United Church

VC

Andrew Fung, Daniel Padro, David Bartucci, Jennifer Mullen, Jennifer Rook, Karima Shajani, Lester Wong, Mark Eagles, Michael Palozzi, Thera Medcof, Tim Thomson

FSRA

VC

Anjali Raghunath, Jeff Sweeting

MOF

VC

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