Terra L. Klinck

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Terra has over 25 years of experience advising both provincially and federally regulated employers and plan administrators, primarily in the private sector, on all legal issues relating to defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension plans, including: governance, fiduciary responsibilities, plan administration and regulatory compliance, funding requirements, pension fund investment and surplus utilization.

Terra has a wealth of experience advising private sector employers restructure their legacy DB pension arrangements, including de-risking initiatives (e.g., buy-in and buy-out annuity purchases), plan mergers and plan wind-ups.

Terra also has extensive experience advising on pension and benefit matters in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, insolvencies and restructurings.

Representative Work

• Advises a large professional association in conjunction with its development and implementation of a retirement program for its 40,000 members, which includes a novel annuity purchase feature.
• Acts as counsel to a large Canadian financial institution in respect of its Canadian pension and savings plans, including governance, compliance and regulatory matters, plan consolidations and mergers and acquisitions related activities.
• Advised an employer on the conversion of its single employer plan into a sector jointly sponsored pension plan, including the transfer of legacy defined benefit liabilities.
• Acted as pension and benefits counsel to a large steel manufacturer in its Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act proceedings, in which the restructuring of pension plans and post-retirement benefits were a critical aspect of the restructuring.

Awards & Accolades

• The Legal 500 Canada (2023)
  Leading Individual: Pensions
• Chambers Canada (2021-2023)
  Band 3: Pensions & Benefits – Nationwide – Canada
• The Best Lawyers in Canada™ (2020-2023)
  Employee Benefits Law
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (2015-2018, 2020-2022)
  Consistently Recommended: Pensions & Employee Benefits – Employer
• Lexpert Zenith Award (2018)
• Who’s Who Legal: Canada (2019-2021)
  National Leader: Labour, Employment & Benefits
• Who’s Who Legal: Global Guide (2019-2022)
  Global Leader: Pensions & Benefits

Associations & Memberships

• Canadian Bar Association | Executive Member, Pension and Benefits Section | Secretary 2021-2022 | Co-chair of the Advocacy and Government Relations Committee since 2019
• Ontario Bar Association | Member, Pension and Benefits Section (previously participated on the Executive)
• Osgoode Professional Development | Instructor, Pension Law Certificate Program
• Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, Standing Technical Advisory Committee for Defined Contribution Pension Plans | Member

Education

• University of Western Ontario, LL.B.
• McGill University, B. Comm. (with Distinction)
• Yale University – Exchange Student