Ottawa to table shared-risk pension plan legislation next year: Sorenson

OTTAWA – Junior finance minister Kevin Sorenson says the government is going ahead with creating so-called shared-risk pension plans in the federally regulated sphere.

Sorenson says the government has just completed two months of consultations on the issue and draft legislation will likely be placed before Parliament in early 2015.

The minister of state for finance says the shared-risk plans — which have also been referred to as target benefit plans — are needed because defined-benefit plans are becoming scarcer.

The shared-risk plans allow for both employers and employees to adjust contributions and benefits to reflect the financial state of the plans.

Sorenson says there are over 1,200 federally regulated plans, including Crown corporations, and that both defined-contribution and defined-benefit plans would be able to convert to the third option on a voluntary basis.

One issue that would still need to be clarified in the upcoming regulations is what would constitute agreement on the part of the employee group or those already retired.