FSRA moves to wind up pension plan, targets non-compliance in administration
January 02, 2026
Following repeated failures by employer, Higginson Equipment Inc., to remit both employer and employee contributions to the Pension Plan for the Employees of Higginson Equipment Inc. (the “Plan”), the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario issued two Notices of Intended Decision (“NOIDs”) to order the wind-up the Plan and impose administrative penalties.
The Plan is a single-employer defined contribution pension plan with 13 members. Despite a previous regulatory order and a warning letter with respect to outstanding contributions, and extensive efforts by FSRA to bring the Plan into compliance, the employer failed to remit contributions for the period from April to August 2025, totaling approximately $9,500. FSRA noted that timely remittance of contributions is a fundamental obligation under the Pension Benefits Act (Ontario) (the “PBA”), and determined that the repeated failure by the employer to make contributions as required by the PBA and the regulations warranted the wind-up of the Plan.
FSRA also gave notice that it intends to impose five general administrative penalties on the employer under section 108.2 of the PBA, totaling $19,000. Each penalty of $3,800 corresponds to a failure to remit required contributions for the months of April through August 2025, contrary to section 4(4) of Ontario Regulation 909.
FSRA cited the following factors in its decision to impose the general administrative penalties:
- The contraventions were intentional, given prior non-compliance and regulatory warnings.
- Approximately $9,500 in contributions remain outstanding, causing harm to Plan members who may miss out on investment returns that would otherwise accrue to their defined contribution accounts.
- The employer failed to take remedial action in relation to its contraventions.
- The employer derived economic benefit by withholding employee contributions.
- Previous contraventions occurred between January 2023 and March 2024, resulting in earlier enforcement actions.
The employer has requested a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal in response to the NOIDs.
Click on ‘More information’ below to read the NOIDs:
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