In 2025 in Ontario, Bill 68, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures) amended the Pension Benefits Act to establish a framework permitting the transfer of assets from defined contribution (DC) single employer pension plans to jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs). 

“As this framework cannot be proclaimed without accompanying regulatory amendments, the Ministry of Finance is now proposing regulations,” the province’s summary of the proposal states. The ministry is also proposing amendments that will authorize the chief executive officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) to impose general administrative monetary penalties related to the transfer and conversion regulations.

If approved, the province is targeting the implementation of proposed changes which prescribe notice content requirements and conversion process timelines, by July 1, 2026.

Comments on the proposed regulations are due to the ministry by April 20, 2026.

Pension sustainability 

“The proposal would facilitate further sector-wide consolidation,” the proposal notes. It also says the measures will enhance the sustainability of workplace pensions.

“It is anticipated that, over a year, the pension plans participating in such conversions would incur one-time direct compliance costs averaging approximately $340,000 in total. Additionally, the ministry expects single employer pension plan employers to realize cost efficiencies through administrative savings resulting from plan conversions to a JSPP; these combined savings could exceed $1 million annually, on average,” they add.

Prescriptive in nature, the regulations discuss notice periods and the contents of notices themselves. This includes descriptions about how DC benefits would change under the proposed transfer of assets, the different options available to plan members, former members, retired members and beneficiaries and benefit particulars in the event of death or termination. 

Wind-up funded ratios 

Solvency ratios, the going concern funded ratio and wind-up funded ratios of the JSPP, along with an explanation of what each is, will also be required, alongside a description of governance structures.

Years of service, normal retirement dates and an estimate of the earliest date on which the individual would be eligible to receive an unreduced pension under the JSPP are also discussed. Particulars of any integration with the individual’s pension entitlement under the JSPP with pension payable under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Old Age security (OAS) and the effect of such integration must also be discussed.

Notices must also give instructions for those who elect not to transfer assets. The deadline to comply with such a direction must occur within 60 days after the last day on which the direction may be delivered to plan administrators.

Within 210 days after the effective date of the transfer of assets, plans must also report the amount of assets transferred, the numbers of members, retired members and others who were transferred to the JSPP, along with the number of those who elected not to transfer their assets. The report must also include an actuarial cost certificate from the JSPP as of the date that the assets were transferred.