Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Act, 2015 Hunter, Hon. Mitzie Associate Minister of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan) — Bill 56 (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 56, 41-1

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Bill 56, Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Act, 2015

Hunter, Hon. Mitzie Associate Minister of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan)

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As Amended by Standing Committee

Royal Assent

[41] Bill 56 Royal Assent (PDF)

Bill 56 2015

An Act to require the

establishment of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan

Preamble

Canada and Ontario

have a strong foundation of retirement benefit programs, namely the Canada

Pension Plan, Old Age Security, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the

Ontario Guaranteed Annual Income System. However, as outlined in Ontario's

2014 Budget, several studies have shown that a significant portion of today's

workers are not saving enough to maintain their standard of living when they

retire. The reasons for this are varied: workplace pension coverage is low;

individuals are not taking sufficient advantage of voluntary savings tools; and

people are living longer than ever before.

After a lifetime of

hard work, Ontarians deserve to feel financially secure in their retirement.

Strengthening the retirement income system is not only important to Ontario

families, it is critical to the future prosperity of the province.

The Government of

Ontario is taking a leadership role in addressing this pressing issue by

proposing the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, a new mandatory provincial

pension plan that would enable Ontario workers to build a more secure

retirement future. It would be the first of its kind in Canada and would build

on key features of the Canada Pension Plan.

The Government of

Ontario is committed to ensuring that the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan is

administered by an entity with a strong governance structure and investment

strategy to ensure that the Plan is efficiently managed, accountable, transparent

and fair.

The Government of

Ontario is moving forward with the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan as a

priority and is committed to establishing the Plan by January 1, 2017. The

Government intends to begin the process of fulfilling its commitment and set

the stage for further consultations with the people of Ontario to ensure the Plan

meets the needs of today's workforce.

Therefore, Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Obligation to

establish Ontario Retirement Pension Plan

(1) The

Government of Ontario shall, no later than January 1, 2017 and in accordance

with the parameters set out in this Act, establish the Ontario Retirement

Pension Plan.

Requirement to

introduce legislation

(2) The

Minister of Finance or another Member of the Executive Council shall introduce

legislation that,

(

a) provides for the operation of

the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan;

(

b) provides for the administration

and investment management of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan through the administrative

entity described in

section 2; and

(

c) provides for the requirements

of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, including the basic requirements set

out in the Schedule.

Cost-benefit

analysis

(3) The Minister of Finance shall prepare a

cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and shall

table the report in the Legislative Assembly before December 31, 2015.

Obligation to create

administrative entity

(1) An

administrative entity shall be established for the purpose of administering the

Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Duties of the

administrative entity

(2) The

duties of the administrative entity shall include the following:

1. Enrolment: The

administrative entity shall enrol eligible employees and eligible employers.

2. Collection of

contributions: The administrative entity shall collect from eligible employers

the contributions on behalf of the eligible employers and the eligible

employees.

3. Investing

contributions: The administrative entity shall be responsible for investing the

collected contributions for the benefit of the members and other beneficiaries

of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

4. Holding contributions:

The administrative entity shall hold the contributions, and any accruals from

the investments, in trust for the members and other beneficiaries of the

Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. The contributions and the accruals shall not

form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

5. Administration

of benefits: The administrative entity shall pay retirement benefits, or other

benefits, to those members or other beneficiaries of the Ontario Retirement Pension

Plan who have qualified for those benefits.

6. Communications:

The administrative entity shall provide information to employers and members

and other beneficiaries about the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and shall

respond to inquiries.

7. Annual report:

The administrative entity shall submit an annual report concerning its affairs

to the Minister of Finance for the purpose of making the report available to

the public.

Delegation

(3) The legislation referred to in

subsection 1 (2) shall contain rules that permit the administrative entity to delegate

the authority to perform any of the administrative entity's functions or to

carry out any of the administrative entity's powers.

Collection of information

(1) The

Minister of Finance may request and collect from any employer, any public body or

the federal government any information, including personal information,

described in subsection (2) that the Minister considers necessary for the

purpose of establishing the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Information that may be requested and collected

(2) The information referred to in

subsection (1) is the following:

1. Information about employees employed in Ontario

and their employers, including the numbers of employees of an employer, the age

and gender of employees, classes of employment, and annual salaries and wages

payable to employees.

2. Information concerning Ontario's population,

labour force and economy, including demographic and economic projections.

3. Information necessary to determine whether an

employer provides a pension plan or other retirement savings plan to its employees

employed in Ontario and, if so, which employees participate in the plan, the

nature and level of the benefits provided by the plan and the contribution

rates under the plan.

4. Any other information as the Minister considers

necessary for the purpose of establishing the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Notice under privacy legislation

(3) Any collection by the Minister of

Finance of personal information under this

section is exempt from the

application of subsection 39 (2) of the Freedom of Information

and Protection of Privacy Act .

Deemed consistent purpose

(4) For the purposes of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act , personal

information in the custody or control of the Ministry of Finance that has not

been collected under this

section may be used by the Ministry for the purpose

described in subsection (1), and that use shall be deemed to be for a purpose

that is consistent with the purpose for which the personal information was obtained

or compiled.

Disclosure to Minister of Finance

(5) Upon receipt of a request for

information from the Minister of Finance under subsection (1), a public body

shall disclose to the Minister the requested information from their records for

the purpose set out in that subsection.

Requirement for

employers to give information

(6) Upon

receipt of a request for information from the Minister of Finance under

subsection (1), an employer shall, within 30 days after the request, disclose

to the Minister the requested information from their records for the purpose

set out in that subsection.

Extension of time

(7) The

Minister of Finance may extend the time limit referred to in subsection (6),

before or after it has expired, if the Minister is satisfied that there are

reasonable grounds for doing so.

Offence

(8) An

employer who fails to comply with a requirement under this

section is guilty of

an offence.

False information

(9) An

employer who knowingly gives false information to the Minister of Finance is guilty

of an offence.

Definitions

(10) In

this section,

"employer" means a

person liable to pay salary, wages or other remuneration in relation to

employment; ("employeur")

"federal government"

fédéral")

"personal

information" means personal information within the meaning of

section 38 of the

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act ;

("renseignements personnels")

"public body" means,

(

a) any

ministry, agency, board, commission, official or other body of the Government

of Ontario,

(

b) any

municipality in Ontario, or

(

c) a

local board, as defined in t he Municipal Affairs Act ,

and any authority, board, commission, corporation, office or organization

of persons some or all of whose members, directors or officers are appointed or

chosen by or under the authority of the council of a municipality in Ontario.

("organisme public")

Commencement

4. This

Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short Title

5. The

short title of this Act is the Ontario Retirement Pension

Plan Act, 2015 .

Schedule

Basic requirements of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan

Contributions to the

Plan

(1) Eligible

employers and eligible employees shall contribute to the Ontario Retirement Pension

Plan.

Obligation to deduct

contributions

(2) Eligible

employers shall deduct Ontario Retirement Pension Plan contributions from the

salary and wages of their eligible employees and shall make contributions on

behalf of their eligible employees.

Remittance to

administrative entity

(3) The

contributions made by eligible employers and eligible employees shall be

remitted to the administrative entity referred to in

section 2 of the Act.

Determination of

contributions

(4) Contributions

shall be determined by applying the applicable contribution rate to the portion

of the eligible employee's annual salary and wages between the minimum

threshold and the maximum threshold, as specified under the legislation referred

to in subsection 1 (2) of the Act, subject to subsection (5).

Maximum threshold

(5) The

maximum threshold for 2017 shall be the amount equal to $90,000 as adjusted in

accordance with the legislation referred to in subsection 1 (2) of the Act to

reflect the percentage increase to the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings under

the Canada Pension Plan (Canada) between 2014 and

Contribution rate

(6) The

contribution rate referred to in subsection (4) shall be the same for eligible

employers and eligible employees and the maximum combined rate shall not exceed

3.8 per cent.

Phase-in of

contribution rates

(7) The

legislation referred to in subsection 1 (2) of the Act shall provide transition

rules concerning the phasing in of contribution rates.

Eligibility under the

Plan

Eligible employee

(1) An

eligible employee is an individual who satisfies the following criteria and any

other criteria specified under the legislation referred to in subsection 1 (2) of

the Act:

1. The

individual is 18 years of age or older and under 70 years of age.

2. The

individual is employed in Ontario and their employment is eligible employment.

3. The

individual's annual salary and wages are above the minimum threshold referred

to in subsection 1 (4) of this Schedule.

4. The

individual is not in receipt of a retirement benefit from the Ontario Retirement

Pension Plan .

5. The

individual does not participate in a comparable workplace pension plan as

determined under the legislation referred to in subsection 1 (2) of the Act.

Eligible

employment

(2) All employment in Ontario is eligible

except employm

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 56, 41-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s1 bill 56 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ecebe48ff53f295b7b73d61e006e3c71c2d7a094

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