Vol. 136, No. 33 — August 17, 2002

Regulations Amending the Public Service Superannuation Regulations

Statutory Authority

Public Service Superannuation Act and Financial Administration Act

Sponsoring Agency

Treasury Board Secretariat

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

Historically, the annual report on the administration of the Public Service Pension Plan has included statements showing the transactions recorded in the Public Service Superannuation Account; that is, contributions, interest credits and benefit payments.

This regulatory amendment would require that a full set of financial statements for the public service pension plan showing the net change in plan assets and liabilities and the surplus or deficit position of the plan also be prepared and included in the annual report. These financial statements would be based on the federal government's stated accounting policies for the pension plan, which are based on generally accepted accounting principles.

This approach has been anticipated since the Public Sector Pension Investment Board was established in 2000 to invest pension contributions. It will bring the Government's pension plan financial reporting in line with pension standards legislation, provide better financial disclosure, and help assure the overall effectiveness of the pension administration.

Alternatives

While plan financial statements could be produced without a regulatory requirement, the regulatory route is being proposed in the interest of clarity and public disclosure.

Benefits and Costs

The small additional administrative cost of producing plan financial statements will be charged to the pension account or fund. There is no cost to an outside party.

Consultation

The proposed regulations have been discussed with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), which administers the plan, as well as with the Canadian Forces and the RCMP.

Compliance and Enforcement

The financial statements will be produced by PWGSC, as part of the normal operations of administering the plan.

Contact

Joan M. Arnold, Director, Pensions Legislation Development Group, Pensions and Benefits Division, Treasury Board Secretariat, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5, (613) 952-3119.

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Treasury Board, pursuant to subsection 42.1(1)(v.8) and section 46 of the Public Service Superannuation Act and paragraph 7(2)(a) of the Financial Administration Act, proposes to make the annexed Regulation Amending the Public Service Superannuation Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Phil Charko, Assistant Secretary, Pensions and Benefits Division, Treasury Board Secretariat, L'Esplanade Laurier, 300 Laurier Avenue West, 5th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5.

LUCIENNE ROBILLARD
President of the Treasury Board

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE PUBLIC SERVICE SUPERANNUATION REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. Section 45 of the Public Service Superannuation Regulations (see footnote 1)  is replaced by the following:

45. Beginning with the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002, the annual report referred to in section 46 of the Act shall include the financial statements of the pension plan provided by the Act, prepared in accordance with the federal government's stated accounting policies for the pension plan, which are based on generally accepted accounting principles.

COMING INTO FORCE

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

[33-1-o]

Footnote 1 

C.R.C., c. 1358; SOR/93-450

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).