Retirees Advisory Panel

Meeting Summary

Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Videoconference

This summary sets out the key points discussed at the June 9, 2021 meeting.

FSRA Consumer Office Initiative on cross-sector complaints resolution framework

The Committee heard from the FSRA Consumer Office about a possible cross-sectoral policy framework for complaints resolution.  The Consumer Office shared draft principles developed through best practice research that could serve as the basis for any framework.

Data collection

The Committee discussed the draft regulation on PBGF data collection. 

The Committee also heard about data collection on missing members which will become mandatory starting with all Annual Information Returns filed after August 2021.  The goal is to get more information on the scope of the issue which will help guide future legislative and policy development. 

Digital transformation

The Committee heard about FSRA’s digital transformation project that will modernize FSRA’s IT systems for the pension sector as well as across FSRA’s other sectors.  Improvements have recently been made to the Pension Services Portal (PSP) which allows 14 additional items to be filed through the PSP.  Members were invited to participate in a separate stakeholder consultation session in July related to Pension digital transformation.  The purpose of this meeting is to solicit stakeholder feedback on the PSP functionality, identify any pain points and ensure that FSRA understands the sector’s needs for a future system.

Guidance on administrator roles and responsibilities

The Committee discussed FSRA’s guidance on Administrator Roles and Responsibilities.  Key administrator requirements outlined in the guidance include:

  • Providing information to members, former members and retirees,
  • Administering the plan according to filed plan documents,
  • Investing the assets of the plan according to the plan terms,
  • Maintaining accurate and complete plan records,
  • Making contributions to the plan, and
  • Ensuring benefit payments are made from the plan.

The Committee also discussed the fiduciary duties of the plan administrator.

Other discussion topics

The Committee also heard about and discussed the following topics:

  • The results of the FSRA’s quarterly DB funding report as at March 31, 2021,
  • An update on FSRA’s proposed changes to the Form 7 contribution monitoring and reporting process,
  • The launch of FSRA’s new Marriage Breakdown Guide for Members, and
  • Policy updates including the relaunch of FSRA’s website, the approach to new pension guidance as well as guidance inherited from FSCO, and the new guidance for MEPPs.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the committee will be scheduled for Fall 2021.

Attendance record

Invited/Attended

Affiliation

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

Lester Wong

FSRA – Chief Actuary, Pensions and Committee Chair

VC

Bill VanGorder

Chief Policy Officer pro tem, CARP

VC

Jolanta Morowicz

Retired from pension consulting and research

VC

Linda Choptiany

President, Ontario Colleges Retirees’ Association

VC

Mike Powell

President, Canadian Federation of Pensioners

VC

Sharon Altman-Lehman

President, Yellow Pages Pensioners’ Group, and Director, Canadian Federation of Pensioners

VC

Shelly Rae

Founder of People R Us Inc., a full-service human resources and consulting company

VC

David Bartucci, Jennifer Rook, Jessica Rose, Lynn  Barron, Mark Eagles, Taryn Pimento

FSRA

VC

Anne Strathy, Cole Matthews, Vince Park

MOF

VC

Available in French upon request.