Expertise

Design and implementation

• Plan design. Designing and drafting plan documentation.
• Development and review of supplementary materials. Reviewing trust, insurance, annuity, letter of credit and pension funding documents and developing employee communication materials.
• Executive compensation plan design. Assisting in the design and funding, where applicable, of executive compensation plans, such as supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) and retirement compensation arrangements (RCAs).
• Design and implementation of special projects. Providing help with conversions from defined benefit to defined contribution or shared risk pension plans; pension plan mergers and asset transfers; due diligence related to mergers and acquisitions; surplus recoveries; governance audits and forensic reviews.

Compliance and Administration

• Plan amendments. Amending documents to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Legislative and regulatory updates. Providing guidance on case law and regulatory and industry developments.
• Plan administration. Assisting with all matters relating to plan administration, including marriage breakdowns, benefit entitlements and options, etc.
• Wind Ups. Utilizing our cross-functional teams to wind up both solvent and insolvent employer pension plans. 

Good Governance: From Best Practices to Statutory Obligations

• Audits. Auditing plan administration for compliance with statutory requirements, Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) Guidelines, regulatory policies, best practices and common-law requirements, as appropriate.
• Governance Policies. Designing comprehensive policies, procedures, and other documents that respond to the various statutory requirements, regulatory guidelines and industry best practices.
• Benchmarking. Benchmarking your governance processes and practices against relevant industry competitors and reporting to you on similarities and differences.
• Governance Review and Gap Analyses. Providing governance reviews to assess your adherence to your policies and procedures and allow you to determine if corrective action or modification is needed.
• Training. Providing training to pension committees, directors, trustees, regulators and other individuals involved in the administration of pension plans on fiduciary and governance matters.
• Canadian Pension Governance Milestones

Human Resources Policy Design and Compliance Review

• Policy Compliance. Providing guidance to ensure your organizational policies are in compliance with your legislative and contractual requirements.  Focusing on mitigating risks while helping to support your employees.
• Policy Review. Performing policy reviews and gap analysis including occupational health and safety, statutory leaves of absence (e.g., maternity/paternity), fitness for duty, substance use/abuse, and accommodation policies. 
• Policy Design. Designing comprehensive and integrated policies, procedures, and other documents that respond to your organization's benefit philosophy and your legislative and contractual requirements.
• Specialized Focus on Substance Policies. We mitigate organizational risks due to substance use/abuse (including recreational and medicinal cannabis), by guiding clients towards clear substance policies that also cover related issues, such as accommodation, return to work, testing, fitness for duty, and scent-free workplaces.