Pension Plan Updates
Small Changes,
Lifting Big Burdens
On February 14, 2022, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced several regulatory amendments making it easier for companies to do business in Ontario.
FSRA has made regulatory amendments to remove the requirement for administrators of pension plans providing only Defined Contribution benefits, to file an auditor’s report on the plan’s annual financial statements. Instead, FSRA will simply require audited financial statements under certain circumstances. This amendment will save companies thousands of dollars annually since they no longer need to hire an external auditing company to review the statements before being uploaded to the FSRA portal.
FSRA has also stated regulatory amendments to remove the requirement for the administrators of member-directed Defined Contribution pension plans to prepare a Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures (SIP&P).
Lastly, FSRA is revising its Form 7 and related processes. These changes took effect voluntarily on January 1, 2022, but will become mandatory on March 31, 2022. The newly updated forms are available on the FSRA website in two formats: a fillable PDF and an Excel file. Form 7 must be completed annually and sent to the custodian (i.e., insurance carrier).
The revised process includes:
The threshold for reporting variances in expected contributions will be increased from 10% to 25%.
The reporting period for informing FSRA of variances will change from monthly to quarterly.
Any variances of 25% or more must be reported to FSRA within 60 days after the end of each quarter.
If you have questions about these amendments or would like to discuss how these changes may affect your plan, reach out to your retirement consultant at Oak House today!