Earlier this year, we had written about the Ontario government's plan to implement an Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) for Ontario workers and its potential implications for employers.
Briefly, the ORPP would be a "defined benefit (DB) type of plan" with an employee/employer contribution rate of up to 1.9% each, requiring mandatory participation, subject to exemptions for workers who already participate in a "comparable" workplace pension plan. While the meaning of comparable workplace pension plan is yet to be finalized, the Ontario government has indicated that its preference is for only DB plans and target benefit multi-employer pension plans to be considered comparable. Under this approach, employers with defined contribution plans and/or group registered retirement savings plans would not be exempt.
Bill 56, which sets out the framework legislation for the ORPP, passed second reading and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy (the Committee). The Committee intends to hold public hearings on Bill 56 – offering concerned employers another opportunity to share their views on the ORPP with the government.
The hearings will take place in Toronto on March 23, 24, 30 and 31. If you are interested in making an oral presentation on the bill, you need to contact the Clerk of the Committee by 12 noon on Thursday, March 19. Written submissions can be submitted to the Clerk of the Committee by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31. More detailed information regarding the process for making submissions is contained in the Committee's Notice of Hearing.
For more details on the ORPP, please see our earlier blog post.
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