Vol. 147, No. 13 — June 19, 2013

Registration

SOR/2013-125 June 7, 2013

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE PENSION CONTINUATION ACT
ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE SUPERANNUATION ACT

Regulations Amending the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Regulations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations

P.C. 2013-651 June 6, 2013

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, pursuant to subsection 20.1(4) (see footnote a) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act (see footnote b) and sections 26 (see footnote c) and 41 (see footnote d) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act (see footnote e), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Regulations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE PENSION CONTINUATION REGULATIONS AND THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE SUPERANNUATION REGULATIONS

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE PENSION CONTINUATION ACT

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE PENSION CONTINUATION REGULATIONS

1. Section 2 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

2. The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

“Act” means the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act. (Loi)

“authorized advisor” means a member of the Force, a person employed in the public service or a person whose services were retained by the Minister for the purposes of the Act. (conseiller autorisé)

2. Section 4 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed.

3. Section 10 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

10. (1) Despite section 9, an officer may make the election after the expiration of the period provided for in that section if the officer has received, from an authorized advisor who normally gives information about these matters, erroneous or misleading information regarding the period during which the officer could make an election or materially erroneous or misleading information regarding the amount of the reduction of the officer’s pension or the amount of the pension to which the spouse would be entitled and, in making the election, acted on that information.

(2) The election may be made not later than three months after the day on which a written notice containing the corrected information is sent to the officer.

4. Section 12 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

12. (1) An election is valid only if it is sent to the Minister, or to a person designated by the Minister, within the period set out in section 9 or subsection 10(2).

(2) An election is made on the day on which it is sent.

(3) The day of the sending of the election is the day on which it is delivered or, if it is sent by mail, the day on which it is mailed and the postmark is evidence of that day.

5. (1) The portion of section 13 of the French version of the Regulations before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

13. Dans l’année suivant la date du choix, l’officier ou la personne qui agit pour son compte envoie au ministre ou à la personne que celui-ci a désignée :

a) un document qui atteste la date de naissance du conjoint;

(2) Paragraph 13(b) of the French version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “établissant” with “qui atteste”.

6. Subsection 14(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

14. (1) Proof of age of the officer’s spouse is established by a birth certificate issued by a civil authority.

7. The heading before section 19 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

DEMOGRAPHIC ASSUMPTIONS

8. The portion of subsection 19(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

19. (1) For the purposes of section 17, the following are the only demographic assumptions on which the actuarial present values are to be based:

9. Section 20 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

20. For the purposes of the determination referred to in section 17, the rates of interest to be used are those determined in respect of fully indexed pensions in accordance with the section entitled “Pension Commuted Values” of the Standards of Practice — Practice-Specific Standards for Pension Plans, published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, as amended from time to time.

10. (1) Paragraph 21(1)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Subsections 21(2) and (3) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

(2) The revision of the level of reduction shall be in writing.

(3) The revision is valid only if it is sent to the Minister, or to a person designated by the Minister,

(4) A revision of the level of reduction is effective on the day on which it is sent.

(5) The day of the sending of the revision is the day on which it is delivered or, if it is sent by mail, the day on which it is mailed and the postmark is evidence of that day.

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE SUPERANNUATION ACT

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE SUPERANNUATION REGULATIONS

11. Section 5.1 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations (see footnote 2) is replaced by the following:

5.1 (1) Despite section 5 of the Act, a person who attains 71 years of age after October 30, 1998 is not required to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund in respect of any period of service in the Force after December 31 of the year in which that person attains that age.

(2) Despite section 6 of the Act, the person shall not count as pensionable service any service after the day on which they cease to be required to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund and shall not elect, after that day, to count any period of service as pensionable service.

(3) In respect of the person, paragraph 39(3)(a) of the Act is adapted as follows:

12. Subsection 5.2(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

5.2 (1) For the purposes of subsection 5(6) of the Act, the number of hours per week is 12.

13. The portion of subsection 5.6(2) of the Regulations before the adapted portion of paragraph 7(1)(e) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) In respect of the same contributor, the portion of paragraph 7(1)(e) of the Act after subparagraph (vi) is adapted as follows:

14. The portion of subsection 7(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

7. (1) For the purposes of subsection 5(4) of the Act, the kind of superannuation or pension benefit is one that

15. The portion of section 8.1 of the Regulations before the formula is replaced by the following:

8.1 For the purposes of subsection 5(5) of the Act, the annual rate of pay is equal to the amount determined by the following formula and rounded to the next highest multiple of $100:

16. (1) Subsection 9.1(3) of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “30 day” with “30-day”.

(2) Subsection 9.1(6) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(6) If the person dies, the balance of any amount owing shall be deducted in a lump sum.

17. (1) Paragraph 10(1)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) The portion of subsection 10(2) of the Regulations after paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

the contribution that the contributor shall pay to the Superannuation Account or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund is the amount referred to in subsection (4).

(3) The portion of subsection 10(3) of the Regulations after paragraph (c) is replaced by the following:

the contribution that the contributor shall pay into the Superannuation Account or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund, in respect of any portion of the leave that falls within the 52-week period following the day of the birth of the child of the contributor or the day of adoption of the child by the contributor, is the amount referred to in subsection (4).

(4) Section 10 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

(4) For the purposes of subsections (1) to (3),

18. Paragraph 10.2(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

19. Section 10.5 of the Regulations is amended by replacing “surviving spouse” with “survivor”.

20. Paragraph 10.6(1)(a) of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “period of absence” with “leave of absence without pay”.

21. Subsection 10.7(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

10.7 (1) An election under subsection 6.1(1) of the Act may be made during the period that begins three months after the period of leave of absence without pay commenced and ends three months after the day on which the contributor returns to duty in a position in respect of which they are required under section 5 of the Act to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund and in a capacity other than on leave without pay from another position in the Force.

22. Paragraph 10.8(a) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

23. Section 10.10 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

10.91 (1) Despite Part I of the Act, a contributor shall not count as pensionable service any period of leave of absence without pay, or any portion of that period, that begins after October 30, 1998 if the absence does not meet the conditions for a qualifying period set out in subsection 8507(3) of the Income Tax Regulations.

(2) Despite section 5 of the Act, a contributor who, by reason of subsection (1), cannot count a period of leave of absence without pay, or a portion of that period, as pensionable service is not required to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund in respect of that period or portion of that period.

24. Subsections 11.1(1) to (3) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

11.1 (1) Despite Part I of the Act, an election made after October 30, 1998 to count as pensionable service any period of service ending after December 31, 1989 is void in respect of any part of that service after that date if the Minister of National Revenue refuses to issue a certification under paragraph 147.1(10)(a) of the Income Tax Act.

(2) Despite paragraph 8(2)(a) of the Act, the election is void in respect of any service after December 31, 1989 only if the person making the election does not comply with subparagraph 8304(5.1)(b)(iii) of the Income Tax Regulations.

25. Section 12 of the Regulations is repealed.

26. Paragraph 13(1)(d) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

27. The heading before section 18 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

PAYMENTS TO CHILDREN

28. (1) Subsection 18(1) of the Regulations is repealed.

(2) Subsection 18(2) of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “the date when” with “the day on which”.

29. Section 19 of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “he” with “the child”.

30. Section 20.2 of the Regulations and the heading before it are replaced by the following:

LIMIT ON SURVIVORS’ AND CHILDREN’S BENEFITS

20.2 (1) The monthly amount payable to a survivor or child of a deceased contributor under section 13 of the Act in respect of pensionable service occurring after December 31, 1991 shall be reduced so that the aggregate of that amount and the benefits payable under Part III of the Act in respect of that amount does not exceed the maximum monthly amount of retirement benefits that may be paid to the beneficiary of a member, determined under paragraphs 8503(2)(d) to (f) of the Income Tax Regulations.

(2) The aggregate of monthly amounts payable to the survivor and children of a deceased contributor under section 13 of the Act in respect of pensionable service occurring after December 31, 1991 shall be reduced so that the aggregate of those amounts and the benefits payable under Part III of the Act in respect of those amounts does not exceed the maximum monthly amount of retirement benefits that may be paid to the beneficiaries of a member, determined under paragraph 8503(2)(d) or (e) of the Income Tax Regulations.

(3) The limits set out in subsections (1) and (2) apply to the monthly amounts payable in respect of a contributor who is required to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund on or after December 15, 1994 and who dies after February 7, 2002.

31. Section 21 of the Regulations is amended by striking out “paragraph 11(5)(c) and”.

32. Subsections 24(2) to (4) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

(2) A contributor shall provide the evidence referred to in paragraph (1)(a) before the day on which the contributor becomes entitled to an annuity under the Act.

33. Sections 25 and 26 of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

25. In the case of a person who is convicted after retirement from the Force of an indictable offence committed while the person was a member of the Force any annuity, annual allowance or pension payable under Part I of the Act or Part V of the former Act to or in respect of the person may be reduced by the Treasury Board if, in its opinion, the commission of the offence constituted misconduct in the performance of the person’s duties as a member of the Force.

RETIREMENT AGE

26. For the purpose of calculating benefit entitlements under Part I of the Act, the retirement age of a contributor who holds a rank in the Force is 60 years except that for a contributor who holds a rank in the Force other than that of officer and who was a contributor at any time after February 25, 1987 and before June 30, 1988, the retirement age

34. The heading before section 28 and sections 28 and 29 of the Regulations are repealed.

35. Subsection 30(1) of the French version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “Compte” with “compte”.

36. (1) Subsection 31(3) of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “the date” with “the day on which”.

(2) Subsection 31(4) of the English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “prior to his ceasing” with “prior to ceasing”.

37. (1) The portion of section 34 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

34. For the purpose of section 14.1 of the Act, a contributor may make an election to reduce the amount of the contributor’s annuity or annual allowance not later than one year after

(2) Paragraph 34(a) of the Regulations is repealed.

(3) Paragraph 34(c) of the Regulations is repealed.

38. (1) Subsection 37(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

37. (1) An election is valid only if it is sent to the Minister, or to a person designated by the Minister, within the period set out in section 34 or subsection 35(2).

(2) Subsection 37(2) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) La date du choix est celle de son envoi.

(3) Section 37 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) The day of the sending of the election is the day on which it is delivered or, if it is sent by mail, the day on which it is mailed and the postmark is evidence of that day.

39. (1) The portion of section 38 of the French version of the Regulations before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

38. Dans l’année suivant la date du choix, le contributeur ou la personne qui agit pour son compte envoie au ministre ou à la personne que celui-ci a désignée :

(2) Paragraph 38(b) of the French version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “établissant” with “qui atteste”.

40. Subsection 39(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

39. (1) Proof of age of the contributor’s spouse is established by a birth certificate issued by a civil authority.

41. (1) The portion of subsection 44(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

44. (1) For the purposes of section 42, the following are the only demographic assumptions on which the actuarial present values are to be based:

(2) Paragraph 44(1)(c) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) Subsection 44(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) The actuarial valuation reports referred to in subsection (1) are the most recent actuarial valuation reports laid before Parliament before the day of the election, or, if those reports were laid before Parliament in the month in which that day falls or in the preceding month, the reports that were laid before Parliament immediately before those reports, in each case with any terminological modifications that the circumstances require.

42. Section 45 of the Regulations is amended by replacing “sections 42 and 43” with “section 42”.

43. Subsections 46(3) and (4) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

(3) The revision of the level of reduction shall be in writing.

(4) The revision is valid only if it is sent to the Minister, or to a person designated by the Minister,

(5) A revision of the level of reduction is effective on the day on which it is sent.

(6) The day of the sending of the revision is the day on which it is delivered or, if it is sent by mail, the day on which it is mailed and the postmark is evidence of that day.

44. Section 49 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

49. For the purposes of subsection 14.1(2) of the Act, the day on which the election made by a contributor is deemed to have been revoked is the day on which the contributor is required to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Fund under section 5 of the Act.

45. Section 52 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

52. Despite subparagraph 11(9)(b)(iii) of the Act, the amount of an annual allowance that becomes payable under that subparagraph to a contributor who ceases to be employed after February 7, 2002 shall not exceed the amount determined by the formula set out in paragraph 8503(3)(c) of the Income Tax Regulations.

46. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “his” with “the contributor’s” in the note “Age” at the end of Schedule I to the Regulations.

47. Schedule II to the Regulations is repealed.

48. Subparagraph (a)(i) of Part II of the form entitled “ELECTION TO PAY FOR PRIOR PENSIONABLE SERVICE” set out in Schedule III to the Regulations is amended by replacing “Superannuation Account” with “Pension Fund”.

49. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “estate” with “estate or succession” in the following provisions:

50. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “he” and “him” with “the contributor” in the following provisions:

51. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “leave of absence” with “leave of absence without pay” in the following provisions:

52. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “leave without pay” with “leave of absence without pay” in the following provisions:

53. The Regulations are amended by replacing “7(1)(e)(i) to (v)” with “7(1)(e)(i) to (vi)” in the following provisions:

54. The English version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “the date” with “the day” in the following provisions:

55. The English version of Schedule III to the Regulations is amended by replacing “Christian Names” with “Given Names” in the following provisions:

COMING INTO FORCE

56. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue

The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (the Committee) has expressed concerns regarding inconsistencies between the English and French versions of both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Regulationsand the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations.

The Committee is also concerned about a discrepancy between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act as the enabling authority.

Objectives

The amendments resolve concerns of the Committee by using consistent terminology, ensuring equivalent meaning in the English and French versions, and correcting discrepancies between the Regulations and the enabling authority. The amendments also make a number of housekeeping changes such as modernization of language, changes to reflect the renumbering of statutory authorities, and the repeal of outdated provisions.

Description

Amendments to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension
Continuation Regulations

In the English version of the amended Regulations, the word “sent” is consistently used rather than a combination of the terms “sent,” “delivered,” and “placed in the course of delivery” used previously.

Where the French version of the Regulations referred to a document “établissant” (establishing) a date of birth or marriage, this is amended to refer to a document “qui atteste” these dates. This ensures consistency with the English version that refers to a document that is “evidence” of birth and marriage dates.

The reference to “a person employed in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Public Service” whose duties include the giving of specific advice to a plan member is amended to refer to an “authorized advisor.” In order to extend the responsibility to employees of a third party administrator, “authorized advisor” is defined in the Regulations as “a member of the Force, a person employed in the public service or a person whose services were retained by the Minister for the purposes of the Act.”

Finally, a technical amendment updates the actuarial standard used to calculate interest rates in the determination of the reduction applied to a plan member’s annuity when the member marries after age 60 and chooses to provide an optional survivor benefit to his or her partner. The reference to the 1993 standard is updated to the Standards of Practice — Practice-Specific Standards for Pension Plans, published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, as amended from time to time.

Amendments to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations

The amendments to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations address concerns of the Committee by correcting discrepancies between the Regulations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act (the Act) as the enabling authority, as well as ensuring consistency between the English and French versions of the Regulations.

The amendments clarify that, upon the death of a pensioner who incurred a pension overpayment, recovery may only be made from the payment of any balance owing of the pensioner’s benefit, as set out under the Act. In other words, recovery cannot be made from a survivor or child(ren)’s pension benefit. Furthermore, the Regulations also specify that any recovery from the pensioner’s remaining benefit shall be made in a lump sum.

In keeping with the commitment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to respect human rights, the provisions that (1) required mandatory retirement at age 60 for regular members; and (2) excluded a survivor who is 20 or more years younger than the contributor from receiving pension benefits are repealed. Given that the Canadian Human Rights Act takes precedence over all other federal acts, neither provision has been enforceable for many years.

The Regulations are also amended to ensure the wording more precisely reflects compliance with the pension benefit limits set out in the Income Tax Regulations. The amendments clarify the method of determining the limits that apply to amounts payable to survivors and children. A correction is also made to the effective date in respect of which the limits apply.

Another amendment establishes a one-year deadline for a contributor to make a remedial election to buy back prior service. In the case where the contributor originally failed to buy back the service because he or she received erroneous or misleading information, the amendment will allow beneficial (less expensive) costing to apply if the contributor makes the election within one year of receiving the corrected information. The amount owing will be determined as if the contributor made the election on the day after receiving the incorrect information. The cost of buying back prior service increases as time goes by, so this results in a fair cost for the contributor. This rule is consistent with existing policy for remedial elections, including this specific situation.

Additional changes are made as a consequence of amendments to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act (the Act) made under the Jobs and Growth Act, 2012. The amendments to the Act came into force effective January 1, 2013. The provisions of the Act that set out contribution rates for contributors were revised and renumbered and references to the historical Superannuation Account were deleted. Consequential amendments to the Regulations are made to reflect these statutory changes.

Other housekeeping amendments to the Regulations modernize the language, replace gender-specific terms with gender-neutral terms, reflect historical renumbering of certain provisions of the Act, and repeal outdated provisions.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs on small business.

Consultation

Consultations took place with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Department of Justice Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat, and the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Advisory Committee was also advised and supports the amendments to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Regulations. This Committee has a statutory mandate to review matters respecting the administration, design and funding of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act and to make recommendations to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness about those matters.

Rationale

These amendments resolve concerns of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations and make other required updates. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act provide that details relating to the pension arrangements under each Act are set in accordance with the regulations; therefore, there is no alternative but to amend the regulations.

There is no increase in the actuarial liability of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Plan, no additional employer costs and no change in the current service cost as a result of these amendments. There is little to no risk associated with the Regulations as they are generally technical in nature and will correct and update the existing regulations.

Contact

Chantal Pethick
Director General
National Compensation Services
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R2
Telephone: 613-843-6045
Email: Chantal.Pethick@rcmp-grc.gc.ca