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Standing Technical Advisory Committee for Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Plans

Meeting summary

Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Videoconference

This summary sets out the key points discussed at the March 8, 2023 meeting.

Committee membership

  • The committee welcomed new members.

General items

  • The committee discussed issues with inactive members who may be missing, and a more flexible benefit design. 

DC annual information return filings

  • FSRA updated the committee on the work examining the data gathered from defined contribution AIRs and preliminary findings.

New DC documents published

  • FSRA published two new documents aimed at defined contribution plan administrators in January. These focus on what employers need to know.

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.

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; (P)Phone

Mark Eagles

FSRA – Director, Advisory Services and Committee Co-Chair

VC

David Vincent

Canadian Benefits Law and Committee Co-Chair

VC

Caroline Helbronner

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

VC

Christine Dear

Manulife

R

Kim Francis

Sun Life

VC

Kim Ozubko

Royal Bank of Canada

R

Mary Picard

Dentons Canada LLP

VC

Michelle Loder

LifeWorks

VC

Paul Webber

Green Benefits Group

VC

Thu Truong

Sobeys

VC

Vartkes Rubenyan

Mercer

VC

Claire Woodcock, Dan Padro, David Bartucci, Jennifer Mullen, Karima Shajani, Joanna Spadafora, Paul Dempsey, Paul Martiniello, Rhea Tubigan, Siddhartha Kalita, Trevor McKillop

FSRA

VC

Jacques Lobe Kingue, Jeff Sweeting, Krista Teichroeb, Pearl Vyas

MOF

VC

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