CRA Publishes Actuarial Bulletin No. 4
February 10, 2025
The Registered Plans Directorate of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) published Actuarial Bulletin No. 4 (the Bulletin) on January 6, 2025. The Bulletin provides guidance on how assets and liabilities should be apportioned among participating employers in registered pension plans where multiple employers participate in the plan.
A draft version of the Bulletin was released for consultation in January 2020. It initially provided prescriptive guidance on the apportionment and reporting of assets and liabilities for all plans with multiple participating employers. Following review of industry feedback, the final Bulletin narrowed its scope of the prescriptive requirements to apply only to Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) as defined in the Income Tax Act (ITA) (i.e., plans where related employers participate in a “single employer plan”).
For a plan with multiple participating employers that is not an IPP, the Bulletin indicates that the ITA and Income Tax Regulations (Regulations) (subparagraph 147.2(2)(a)(vi) of the ITA and paragraph 8515(6)(d) of the Regulations) continue to govern, requiring that plan assets and actuarial liabilities be apportioned among participating employers in a reasonable manner. The Bulletin states that the reasonable apportionment is to ensure that any unfunded liability associated with one participating employer, along with that employer’s contributions, is not excessive.
Click here to view the final Bulletin.
