Pooled Registered Pension Plan Regulations

The Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act (“the Act”), implements the federal portion of the framework for the establishment and administration of PRPPs.  PRPPs will be professionally administered defined contribution pension plans targeted to employees and self-employed persons who do not have access to a workplace pension plan.  In 2010, more than 5 million Canadians worked for small businesses and more than 2.5 million Canadians were self-employed.  PRPPs would pool the funds in participating employees’ and self-employed persons’ (i.e. members’) accounts to achieve low costs in relation to investment management and plan administration.  PRPPs are intended to have design features which will remove traditional barriers that might have kept small- and medium sized businesses from offering workplace pension plans to their employees in the past.  In particular, the fiduciary obligations related to the management of the plan on behalf of plan members would be shifted from the employer to licensed administrators.  In addition, responsibilities related to the professional administration of the plan would be borne by the licensed administrator.

The Act applies to PRPPs within the legislative authority of the federal government, such as PRPPs offered to employees in the telecommunications, banking and inter-provincial transportation sectors.  The Act also applies to persons employed in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, including the self-employed.  Similar to existing federally-regulated registered pension plans, the Superintendent of Financial Institutions would be responsible for the supervision of federally-regulated PRPPs.  In order for PRPPs to be available to all employers, employees and the self-employed across Canada, provincial enabling legislation must also be implemented.

For more information visit the Department of Finance website