Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans, Alta. Reg. 196/2001
| Citation: | Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans, Alta. Reg. 196/2001 | |
| Enabling Statutes: | 3 Statutes | |
| URL: | http://www.canlii.org/ab/laws/regu/2001r.196/20050617/whole.html | |
| Version downloaded by CanLII on 2005-06-17 | ||
Warning: This document predates the last update of the collection. It might have been modified or omitted since this last update.
(Consolidated
up to 97/2002)
ALBERTA
REGULATION 196/2001
Provincial
Court Act
Court of Queen’s Bench Act
Interpretation Act
PROVINCIAL
JUDGES AND MASTERS IN CHAMBERS
REGISTERED AND UNREGISTERED PENSION PLANS
Table of
Contents
Preamble
General Provisions
1 Division
of Regulation
2 Interpretation
3 Transfer
of assets held under temporary arrangements
4 Prevalence over repealed Regulations
5 Collection
and disclosure of information
6 Repeals
7 Coming into force
Schedule
1
Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers
(Registered) Pension Plan
1 Interpretation
of Schedule 1
2 The Plan
Part 1
Administration
3 Administration
of the Plan
4 Fiscal
year
5 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Part 2
Participation
6 The participants
Part 3
Funding
7 Registered
pension plan fund
8 Actuarial
valuation report
9 Fiduciary
relationship and use of surplus
10 Contributions
and accretion
11 Participant
contributions
12 Government contributions
Part 4
Pensionable Service
13 Computation of pensionable service
Part 5
Benefits
14 Interpretation
and application of Subdivisions A
15 Interpretation
and application of Subdivisions B
16 Limitation
of benefits where obtainable under
Subdivisions A and B
17 Vesting based on all service
Division
1
Retirement Benefits
Subdivision A
For Service Before 1992
18 Limitation
of benefits to meet tax rules
19 Normal
pension based on age and service
20 Pension
partner protection
21 Alternative
forms of pension
22 Disability
pensions
23 Disability
pension adjustments
24 Postponement
of pension
25 Failure to select pension
Subdivision B
For Service After 1991
26 Tax
rule limitations on benefits
27 Normal
pension based on age and service
28 Pension
partner protection
29 Alternative
forms of pension
30 Pension
on early retirement
31 Disability
pensions
32 Disability
pension adjustments
33 Postponement
of pension
34 Failure to select pension
Division 2
Death Benefits
35 Application of Division
Subdivision A
For Service Before 1992
36 Pension
partner’s benefit on death
before pension commencement
37 Benefits to other beneficiaries
Subdivision B
For Service After 1991
38 Pension
partner’s benefit on
death before pension commencement
39 Benefits to other beneficiaries
Division
3
Benefits on Termination
Before Pension Eligibility
Subdivision A
For Service Before 1992
40 Vested participants under 55
Subdivision B
For Service After 1991
41 Vested
participants under 55
42 Non-vested participants
Division
4
Miscellaneous Provisions on Benefits
43 Cost-of-living
increases
44 Interest
allowance
45 Pension
commencement
46 Commencement
of guaranteed term of years
47 Suspension
of pension on employment
48 Suspension
of pension on reappointment
49 Beneficiaries
50 Method
of payment of pensions
51 Idem
– conversion following death
52 Continuation of existing pensions and pension rights
Part 6
Miscellaneous
53 Interest
chargeable
54 Advance
against pension
55 Actuarial
formulas
56 Exercise
of benefit choice
57 Prohibition
against assignment, etc.
58 Matrimonial
property orders
59 Liability
of benefits to legal process
60 Liability
of Government and prohibition against
extra‑legislative benefits or remedies
61 Rights
and obligations under former Regulation
62 Overpayments
and deficiencies
63 Return
of money
64 Retentions
for debt
65 Requirement
of evidence
66 Appeals
67 Termination
of the Plan, and surplus on wind‑up
68 Transitional
– interest rates - 1998
69 Transitional
– actuarial tables
70 Transitional – pre‑April 1, 1998 service purchases
71.1 Transitional – election for certain judges
71.2 Transitional – interest relief for non‑electing judges
Subschedule
Forms
Schedule
2
Provincial Judges and Masters in
Chambers (Unregistered) Pension Plan
1 Interpretation
of Schedule 2
2 Establishment of the Plan
Part 1
Administration
3 Administration
of the Plan
4 Fiscal
year
5 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Part 2
Participation
6 The participants
Part 3
Funding
7 RCA
fund
8 Actuarial
valuation report
9 Payment
of benefits and costs
10 Contributions
and RCA taxes
11 Participant
contributions
12 Government contributions
Part 4
Pensionable Service
13 Computation of pensionable service
Part 5
Benefits
15 Interpretation
and application of Part 5
16 Limitation
of benefits
16.1 Linking
of benefit choices to those made under Registered Plan
17.1 Reduction for Registered Plan benefits
Division
1
Retirement Benefits
27 Amount
and form of pension
28 Spousal
protection
29 Alternative
forms of pension
31 Disability
pensions
32 Disability
pension adjustments
33 Postponement
of pension
34 Failure to select pension
Division
2
Death Benefits
35 Application
of Division
36 Pension partner’s benefit for pre-1992 service
37 Benefits to other beneficiaries for pre-1992 service
38 Pension
partner’s benefit on
death before pension commencement
39 Benefits to other beneficiaries
Division
3
Benefits on Termination
Before Pension Eligibility
41 Vested
participants under 55
42 Non‑vested participants
Division
4
Miscellaneous Provisions on Benefits
43 Cost-of-living
increases
44 Interest
allowance
45 Pension
commencement
46 Commencement
of guaranteed term of years
47 Suspension
of pension on employment
48 Suspension
of pension on reappointment
49 Beneficiaries
50 Method
of payment of pensions
51 Idem – conversion following death
Part 6
Miscellaneous
53 Interest
chargeable
54 Advance
against pension
55 Actuarial
formulas
56 Exercise
of benefit choice
57 Prohibition
against assignment, etc.
58 Matrimonial
property orders
59 Liability
of benefits to legal process
60 Liability
of Government and prohibition
against extra‑legislative benefits or remedies
62 Overpayments
and deficiencies
63 Return
of money
64 Retentions
for debt
65 Requirement
of evidence
66 Appeals
67 Termination
of the Plan, and surplus on wind‑up
68 Transitional
– interest rates – 1998
71.1 Transitional – election for certain judges
71.2 Transitional – interest relief for non‑electing judges
72 Recalculation
of past benefits
73 Forms
Preamble
WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Canada
recently decided certain questions on the subject‑matters of benefits
payable to provincial judges and judicial independence; and
WHEREAS the
1998 and 2000 Judicial Compensation Commissions have made recommendations
respecting those benefits, including specifically pensions and other retirement
benefits, and also those for masters in chambers; and
WHEREAS it
is the intent of this Regulation generally to put into effect those
recommendations, so far as they relate to pensions and other retirement
benefits, and to bring the legislation into line with current income tax rules (so far as applicable) and,
as to structure and draftsmanship, other public sector pension legislation;
THEREFORE the Lieutenant Governor in Council enacts as follows:
General
Provisions
Division of
Regulation
1 Apart from the Preamble and
sections 1 to 7, this Regulation is divided into
(a) Schedule 1, containing the Provincial Judges
and Masters in Chambers (Registered) Pension Plan continued by that Schedule,
and related provisions, and
(b) Schedule 2, containing the Provincial Judges
and Masters in Chambers (Unregistered) Pension Plan established by that
Schedule, and related provisions.
Interpretation
2 Expressions that are used in
sections 1 to 7 and defined in Schedules 1 and 2 have the corresponding
appropriate meanings given by those Schedules collectively.
Transfer
of assets held under temporary arrangements
3 The Minister of Finance
shall, as soon as practicable, transfer all the assets held in the Consolidated
Cash Investment Trust Fund account under section 7 of the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers (Temporary Pension
Arrangements) Regulation, 1998 (AR 177/98),
(a) to the extent that they consist of or derive
from contributions which, by virtue of Schedule 1, were liable to be made to
the pension plan continued by Schedule 1, to the pension fund continued by
section 7(1) of Schedule 1, and
(b) to the extent that they consist of or derive
from contributions which, by virtue of Schedule 2, were liable to be made to
the plan established by Schedule 2, to the fund established by section 7(1) of
Schedule 2,
and, notwithstanding the repeal of that
Regulation by section 6(2), that account is to continue
in force, so far as necessary but without any further addition of
contributions, until that transfer is made.
Prevalence
over repealed Regulations
4 Notwithstanding
anything in section 35 of the Interpretation
Act, to the extent that this Regulation and the Regulations repealed by
section 6(1) and (2) are inconsistent with reference to anything occurring
before the making of this Regulation, this Regulation prevails over those
repealed ones.
AR 196/2001
s4;251/2001
Collection
and disclosure of information
5(1) In
this section, “judicial service information” means personal information within
the meaning of the Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act that
(a) relates to pensions and other benefits or to
participants’ and former participants’ service, and
(b) has a reasonable and direct connection to
the administration of pensions and other benefits.
(2) The Minister is authorized to
collect judicial service information from, and to disclose it to,
(a) the specific participant or former
participant to whom the information relates,
(b) an appeal board established under Schedule 1
or 2, where the information relates to the appellant or respondent, and
(c) the Minister of Justice and Attorney
General.
(3) The Minister of Justice and
Attorney General is authorized to collect judicial service information from,
and to disclose it to,
(a) a person or board referred to in subsection
(2)(a) or (b), and
(b) the Minister.
(4) The Minister may require the
Minister of Justice and Attorney General to provide to the Minister, within the
time specified by the Minister, information that is required by the Minister to
enable him or her to fulfill his or her
functions under this Regulation.
Repeals
6(1) The
Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers
Pension Plan Regulation (AR 265/88) is repealed.
(2) The Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers (Temporary Pension
Arrangements) Regulation, 1998 (AR 177/98) is repealed.
(3) Sections 71 of Schedules 1 and 2 to
this Regulation are repealed.
Coming
into force
7 This Regulation, except to
the extent that another commencement date is specifically stated and except
(a) sections 3 and 6(2) and (3),
(b) section 6(1), to the extent that it repeals
section 1(1)(q) of, and the Schedule to, the Regulation repealed by it,
(c) in Schedule 1,
(i) sections 1(y), 28(3)(b) and (6), section
20(3), to the extent that it incorporates section 28(3)(b), and section 20(6),
and
(ii) the Subschedule,
and
(d) in Schedule 2, section 7, section 28, to the
extent that it takes into account section 28(3)(b) of Schedule 1, and section
72,
is deemed
to have come into force on April 1, 1998.
Schedule 1
Provincial Judges and Masters in
Chambers (Registered) Pension Plan
Interpretation
of Schedule 1
1 In this Schedule,
(a) “actuarial equivalent” means the equivalent
in actuarial present value, calculated in accordance with demographic and
economic factors that are recommended by an actuary and approved by the
Minister;
(b) “actuary” means a Fellow of the Canadian
Institute of Actuaries;
(c) “benefit” means a retirement benefit, a
death benefit or a benefit on termination before pension eligibility, under
Part 5;
(d) “capped salary” means salary that is or was
compensation within the meaning of the tax rules, subject however to such
limitation as is or was necessary to ensure that the benefit accrual under the
tax rules for the taxation year does not or did not exceed the defined benefit
limit fixed by the tax rules for that year;
(e) “contributions” means contributions under
the Plan;
(f) “former Regulation” means the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers
Pension Plan Regulation (AR 265/88) (repealed);
(g) “judge” means
(i) a judge of the Provincial Court appointed
under the Provincial Court Act and
includes a Chief Judge, Deputy Chief Judge and an Assistant Chief Judge, or
(ii) a master,
but
does not include a supernumerary judge of the Provincial Court or a part‑time
master;
(h) “judicial service” means periods of judicial
service as, or otherwise occupying the position of, a judge;
(i) “latest pension accrual date” means the last
date as of which the tax rules allow a participant to accrue pensionable
service;
(j) “leave without salary” means a period during
which a participant is or was, with due authorization, on leave from his or her
regular duties as a judge and is receiving no remuneration or remuneration that
is less than his or her regular remuneration, and includes any period
recognized as leave without pay under the former Regulation, but does not
include a period during which he or she is or was on LTDI;
(k) “master” means a master in chambers
appointed under the Court of Queen's
Bench Act;
(l) “matrimonial property order” means a
matrimonial property order within the meaning of the Matrimonial Property Act, or a similar order enforceable in Alberta of a court outside Alberta,
that affects the payment or distribution of a person’s benefits;
(m) “maximum benefit accrual date” means, in
respect of a participant, the date on which the 70% benefit accrual percentage
referred to in section 11(3)(a) is reached;
(n) “Minister” means the member of the Executive
Council responsible for the administration of the Management Employees Pension
Plan;
(o) “on LTDI” means, in relation to a judge or
former judge, in receipt of money provided to a participant under and within
the meaning of the Long Term Disability Income Continuance Plan established by
Schedule 2 to the Provincial Court Judges
and Masters in Chambers Compensation Regulation (AR 176/98), and includes
his or her being in receipt of benefits under the Government’s Long Term
Disability Income Continuance Plan for management employees before the first‑mentioned
Plan came into effect;
(p) “participant” means a person who is a
participant of the Plan by virtue of section 6;
(q) “participant current service contributions”
means a participant’s contributions under section 11(1);
(r) “pension” means a pension under the Plan,
and “pensioner” means a person in receipt of such a pension and includes a
prospective pensioner;
(r.1) “pension partner” means
(i) a person who, at the relevant time, was married to a participant or former participant and
(A) was not judicially or otherwise separated from him or her, or
(B) if so separated, was wholly or substantially dependent on him or her,
(ii) if there is no person to whom subclause (i) applies, a person who, as at and up to the relevant time, had lived with the participant or former participant in a conjugal relationship
(A) for a continuous period of at least 3 years, or
(B) of some permanence, if there is a child of the relationship by birth or adoption,
and was, during that period or that relationship, as the case may be, held out by the participant or former participant in the community in which they lived as being in that conjugal relationship, or
(iii) if there is no person to whom subclause (i) or (ii) applies, a person who was married to but separated from the participant or former participant and not wholly or substantially dependent on him or her at the relevant time;
(s) “pension commencement” means the time
established by section 45 that constitutes the effective date for the
commencement of the relevant pension;
(t) “pensionable service” means any period to be
taken into account as pensionable service under section 13;
(u) “plan fund” means the pension fund continued
by section 7(1);
(v) “registered” means registered or accepted
for registration under the Income Tax Act
(Canada);
(w) “salary” means,
(i) subject to subclause (ii), a judge’s annual
salary under the Provincial Court Judges
and Masters in Chambers Compensation Regulation (AR 176/98) or any
predecessor of that Regulation, or both, as the case may be, or
(ii) in the case of a person who is or was on
LTDI or on leave without salary, the amount that would have been the annual
salary under subclause (i) had that person remained in active judicial service
in the capacity in which he or she served immediately before becoming disabled
or going on leave without salary, as the case may be,
but,
in respect of any period after a participant has reached the latest pension
accrual date, means $0;
(x) “service” means any period that is judicial
service or pensionable service or both;
(y) repealed AR 97/2002 s4;
(z) “tax rules” means those provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada) or of the
regulations under it, or of both, that apply to pension plans registered or to
be registered under that Act and includes any approval, certification or other
permission or any direction or order from the federal Minister of National
Revenue the absence of which or failure to comply with which may make the
Plan’s registration liable to revocation under that Act;
(aa) “termination” means a person’s ceasing to be
a participant under any circumstances other than death;
(bb) “the Plan” or “this Plan” means the pension
plan continued by section 2(1) as the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers
(Registered) Pension Plan;
(cc) “vested” means, in relation to a participant
or former participant, having accumulated at least 5 years’ pensionable service
or terminating or having terminated on or after reaching the latest pension
accrual date;
(dd) “years of pensionable service” means, in
respect of a participant or former participant, the number of complete years
and any fraction of a remaining year of pensionable service.
The Plan
2(1) The
pension plan provided for by and under the former Regulation is continued,
subject to this Schedule, as the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers
(Registered) Pension Plan.
(2) It is the intent of this Schedule
that the Plan be and remain a registered pension plan under the Income Tax Act (Canada).
Part 1
Administration
Administration
of the Plan
3(1) The
Minister is the administrator of the Plan.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the
Plan except subsection (3), the Minister shall administer the Plan in
accordance with the tax rules.
(3) If in any respect the Plan does not
comply with the applicable tax rules, the Minister may administer the Plan as
if this Schedule were amended so to comply.
Fiscal
year
4 The fiscal year of
the Plan is from April 1 in one year to March 31 in the next.
Report to
the Legislative Assembly
5(1) The
Minister shall prepare and lay before the Legislative Assembly a report on the
operation of the Plan with respect to each fiscal year.
(2) The report must include the most
recent actuarial valuation report prepared under section 8 unless that
valuation report has already been included in a previous annual report.
Part 2
Participation
The
participants
6 The persons who
are to and are allowed to participate in the Plan are
(a) all judges, and
(b) all former judges who are on LTDI.
Part 3
Funding
Registered pension plan fund
7(1) The
Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers Pension Fund referred to in section
21.2 of the Financial Administration Act
is continued as the “Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers (Registered)
Pension Plan Fund” for this Plan.
(2) The Minister of Finance shall hold
and administer the plan fund in accordance with this Schedule.
(3) The Minister of Finance shall
invest the assets of the plan fund in accordance with the Employment Pension Plans Act and the regulations under it.
(4) All the assets of the Plan are to
be held in, and all its liabilities are to be assumed by, the plan fund.
Actuarial
valuation report
8 The Minister shall
have an actuarial valuation of the Plan performed, and a report on that
valuation prepared, by an actuary at least once every 3 years.
Fiduciary
relationship and use of surplus
9(1) Subject
to subsection (2), the Minister of Finance shall hold the assets of the Plan in
trust for the persons who are or who become entitled to benefits, and for the
payment of the costs of administering the Plan.
(2) Without breaching the trust under
or being in any other manner affected by subsection (1), where the total amount
held under that subsection exceeds the amount that is actuarially determined to
be necessary to pay benefits and the costs of administering the Plan, the
Lieutenant Governor in Council may, with respect to any portion or all of the
excess,
(a) transfer it to the General Revenue Fund, or
(b) apply it towards reduction of the
contributions for which the Government is liable under section 12.
Contributions
and accretion
10(1) All
contributions to the Plan, with interest if any, shall be made and remitted to
the Minister of Finance, who shall deposit them into the plan fund directly on
receiving them.
(2) All income of and all appreciation
and depreciation in the value of the assets of the Plan accrue to the plan fund.
Participant
contributions
11(1) Subject
to this section, a participant shall, at intervals coinciding with the salary
periods fixed by order of the Minister, make contributions for current service
at the rate of
(a) 9%, until March 31, 2000, and
(b) 7%, with effect from April 1, 2000,
of the
participant’s capped salary.
(2) A participant who is about to enter
into a period of leave without salary that does not exceed the 2‑year
maximum specified in section 13(3) may apply to have that period taken into
account as pensionable service and, if he or she wishes to have it so taken
into account, shall make and, to the extent, if any, necessary, remit
contributions, with respect to that leave,
(a) pursuant to subsection (1) for the period of
or periods aggregating one year less any periods of leave without salary
previously taken and falling within this clause or section 9(4)(b) of the
former Regulation, and
(b) pursuant to subsection (1), except at double
the rate set out in subsection (1), for any subsequent periods.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in this
section, participant current service contributions are not to be made after a
participant
(a) attains a benefit accrual percentage of 70%,
the benefit accrual percentage being equal to
(2% x
A) + (2.67% x B) + (3% x C)
where
A
= the participant’s years of pensionable
service before April 1, 1998,
B
= the years of pensionable service from
April 1, 1998 to March 31, 2000, and
C
= the years of pensionable service after
March 31, 2000,
or
(b) reaches the latest pension accrual date,
whichever
of those events occurs first.
(4) A participant shall not make
contributions while on LTDI except that, if a participant on LTDI is also
earning a salary under a rehabilitation employment program, he or she shall
make and remit contributions pursuant to subsection (1) in respect of that
salary.
(5) Subject to subsections (2) and (4),
the Government is liable for the remittance of the participant current service
contributions under subsection (1), for which purpose it may withhold those
contributions from remuneration payments.
Government
contributions
12(1) The
portion of the current service cost for which the Government is liable is the
cost of future benefit accruals after taking into account participant current
service contributions and any excess amount applied towards a reduction of its
contributions pursuant to section 9(2)(b).
(2) Subject to section 9(2), the
Minister shall, if necessary, within a reasonable time after receiving an
actuarial valuation report under section 8 and following the recommendations of
the actuary in the report, in writing adjust the Government’s contributions
(a) in respect of current service, to a rate,
determined by reference to a percentage of participants’ capped salaries, that
is sufficient to finance that portion of the current service cost that is
ascribed to the Government by subsection (1), and
(b) if the Plan has an unfunded liability within
the meaning of the Employment Pension
Plans Regulation (AR 35/2000), to payments that are sufficient to
amortize that unfunded liability in accordance with that Regulation.
Part 4
Pensionable Service
Computation
of pensionable service
13(1) Subject
to this section, in computing the length of pensionable service that a person
accumulated, the following are the periods to be taken into account, namely,
(a) any period that legally constituted and that
was recognized as pensionable service under the former Regulation, and
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