Notices, statements and access to plan documents

This section details the applicable conditions and time periods regarding notices and statements that financial institutions must send to employers and members of simplified pension plans (SIPPs). You will also find information about the right of the employer (or retirement information committee) and plan members to access various documents related to the plan.

• Information for members

  • Member enrolment
  • Annual statement
  • Statement of cessation of active membership
  • Statement of benefits (in the case of a conjugal breakdown)
  • Statement in the event of division of a plan
  • Notice of plan amendment
  • Notice of plan termination
  • Investments
• Access to plan related documents

Information for members

Member enrolment

Within 90 days of enrolment, the financial institution must provide new members with a written summary of the plan and a brief description of their rights and obligations under the Supplemental Pension Plans Act as well as the main benefits resulting from their membership in the plan.

Annual statement

Within 9 months of the end of a plan's fiscal year, the financial institution must send an annual statement to each member that indicates:

• the amount of contributions made to the member's locked-in and not locked-in accounts during the last fiscal year, as well as those accumulated with interest since enrolment in the plan
• the amount of additional contributions paid by the employer, if applicable
• whether all or part of the administration expenses will be paid by the members or the pension fund, as well as the amount of those expenses or the formula for determining it, for each member, by itemizing the part of those expenses assumed by the member, the pension fund or the employer.

Statement of cessation of active membership

Within 60 days of the date on which a financial institution is informed that a member has left the plan, it must send him or her a statement of benefits.

It must, without charge, provide members with the information used to produce the statement, within 30 days following a written request therefor.

Statement of benefits following the breakdown of a conjugal union

Upon written request from the spouses (or their legal representatives), the financial institution must send them a statement of benefits.

Statement in the event of a pension plan division

Within 30 days of the division, the administrator must provide affected members with a statement which updates to the date of the division the information contained in the annual statement (or in any other statement later than the date of the division.)

Notice of plan amendment

If the financial statement proposes to amend the plan, it must inform the members affected by the amendment. See the conditions applicable to amending an SIPP.

Notice of plan termination

The financial institution that terminates a plan or proceeds with the withdrawal of an employer must inform the employers concerned in writing as well as the plan members and the union, if any. See the conditions applicable to terminating an SIPP.

Investments

The financial institution must provide the members with the information provided for in the Supplemental Pension Plans Act with respect to investments. The financial institution should also give them the information and aid provided for in the Guidelines for Capital Accumulation Plans of the Joint Forum of Financial Market regulators. To find out more on the application of the Guidelines to pension plans subject to the Supplemental Pension Plans Act, refer to Guideline No. 3 of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) .

Access to documents related to a plan

The retirement information committee, or failing that, the employer, must make available to members, upon request and free of charge, any document or information required from the financial institution that administers the plan (for example, the annual information return or the SIPP text). It must also send members' requests for information to the financial institution and the corresponding replies to the members.

The financial institution must provide, free of charge, the following documents to the employer (or to the retirement information committee, provided that committee previously informed the administrator and the employer of the committee's existence):

• a copy of the part of the plan giving the provisions applicable to all the employers and a copy of the part stating the provisions specific to the affected employer
• the financial report
• the annual information return
• upon request, any document concerning the plan's administration, including deeds of delegation of power granted by the plan administrator, as well as correspondence between our agency and the financial institution during the previous 60 months (excluding personal information concerning members or the other employers party to the plan).