Canada Revenue Agency published updated limits for 2024 saving plans on November 1st:

Contact us to learn how Individual Pension Plans, income from Salary and RRSPs work together to maximize savings for Business Owners and Incorporated Professionals!

We’re excited to share that Westcoast Actuaries will be presenting at the 21st Annual IAFP® Symposium in Edmonton, Alberta — the event where Financial Planner’s expand their knowledge and financial planning expertise. Expert speakers, CE credits, case studies, break out rooms, networking and more! For more information and to register, visit https://iafpsymposium.ca/

We are pleased to present our 2023 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

We are excited to be a Gold Sponsor of the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners Symposium happening this week. Join our team at our session to discuss Using IPPs to Increase Retirement Wealth for Business Owners! More information can be found at https://iafpsymposium.ca/

Westcoast Actuaries Inc. is pleased to announce that Susan Thorpe has recently joined our consulting team in the position of Senior Consultant, Capital Accumulation Plans.

To date, Susan has enjoyed an extensive and successful career and has over 30 years of experience in the pension industry. She has worked for several insurance organizations in senior Client Relationship Management and Sales & Marketing positions. In her Sales & Marketing roles with national insurance organizations, she was responsible for Western Canada Business Development. Susan has always managed her diverse client base with a focus on developing strong, long term relationships. Her experience covers defined contribution pension plans, defined benefit pension plans, and retirement planning. Susan has completed a Sales and Marketing Program at Queens University School of Business as well as related programs from Simon Fraser University and BCIT.

We are delighted to have Susan join our growing team, and pleased to have the capital accumulation plan expertise she brings to Westcoast Actuaries.

We are pleased to present our 2021 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

With the growing global concerns and overwhelming news of COVID-19, Westcoast Actuaries is committed to being both responsive and responsible to our clients, employees, and community.

We have introduced some precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our employees and workplace environment. The health and well-being of our team is our upmost priority. We have shifted all our office employees to flexible working arrangements, and we will continue to follow the guidance from the Canadian public health authorities at this critical time.

We want to assure our clients and partners that our daily business activities have not been impacted, and we are prepared to continue providing high quality consulting to meet your needs.

We hope that everyone stays safe and stays healthy.

We are pleased to present our 2020 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

We are thrilled that Stephen Cheng, Managing Director & Senior Consulting Actuary of Westcoast Actuaries, has been recognized with a Gold Award for his volunteer efforts with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA). Stephen has been actively involved with the CIA as a volunteer since 2000, participating in many task forces, committees and councils. We would like to thank the CIA for their recognition of Stephen and many other dedicated volunteers, whose contributions are essential to support the development of the actuarial profession.

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled the 2019 federal budget on March 19, 2019. Our consultants are pleased to provide a commentary summarizing the key changes in the new budget that affect retirement savings and pension. Please click here to find the full commentary.

We are pleased to present our 2019 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

The Registered Plans Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced the 2019 limits on November 1, 2018. They are as follows: • Money purchase (MP) limit is $27,230; • Defined benefit (DB) limit is $3,025.56; • 2020 registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) dollar limit is $27,230; • Deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) limit is $13,615; and the • Year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) is $57,400. Please go here for more information and updates from CRA.

Over $185,000 was raised for educational programs for individuals with Down syndrome at last night’s 25th Anniversary Up the Down Market Dinner. We are proud to announce that our incredible team members placed first again in the simulated stock market game for a third victory in four years! All of the photos from the historic evening can be found on the Foundation’s Facebook page.

The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) has released amendments to The Pension Benefits Regulation, 1993. To summarize their amendments effective January 1, 2019, the FCAA will now be implementing fees for the filings of Amendments and Actuarial Valuation Reports in the amount of $300. In addition, the Annual Information Returns will also see a filing fee increase to $300. The FCAA has stated that these fees are intended to ensure that fees paid are sufficient to cover the costs incurred to process these filings. Please visit the FCAA website for more details on these amendments.

The Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM) of British Columbia is implementing changes to its Pensions Electronic Filing Systems. Users will now have the capability to attach specific filing-based documents, eliminating the need for these documents to be submitted through mail or email. For further information, click here.

A Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta decision issued April 13, 2018 gives common-law pension partners the same rights to split pension benefits as apply to legally married pension partners on marriage breakdown. The common-law pension partner must meet the criteria for being a pension partner as defined in section 1(3)(b) of the Employment Pension Plans Act (EPPA). For further information, click here.

The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA) has recently launched their online Registration and Licensing System (RLS). The RLS is a secure electronic environment designed to make filings and submissions to the FCAA more efficient. Plan Administrators will now have access to file amendments and annual filings, and remit payment via the RLS. Please visit the FCAA website for more details on the RLS.

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Canada will be hosting their 20th national conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre May 28-29, 2018. This conference features distinguished guest speakers addressing current trends and developments in tax, estate planning and wealth management.

Of particular interest to pension and wealth management professionals would be Session 9 on Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) with panelists Lea Koiv, Peter Merrick, and Trevor Parry (with Robin MacKnight as moderator) from 3:45pm – 5:00pm on Monday, May 28th, in Room 714.

Additional information on the conference including the program schedule, fees, and registration can be found here.

An Individual Pension Plan (IPP) is an excellent retirement savings vehicle for shareholder employees and senior executives. It delivers significantly more retirement savings contributions than a regular RRSP for individuals who are close to retirement. It would also provide very attractive succession and estate planning opportunities for family owned businesses. With the proposed tax changes for Canadian private corporations, IPPs’ ability to maximize tax efficiency via increased tax deductible pension contributions should be thoroughly considered.

Stephen Cheng, managing director and senior consulting actuary at Westcoast Actuaries Inc., previously contributed one chapter (Chapter 21 – Actuarial Calculations for Individual Pension Plans) to a book titled The Trusted Advisor’s Survival Kit published by LexisNexis in September 2009 that was authored by Mr. Peter Merrick, one of the panelists for this IPP session, at the upcoming STEP Canada national conference.

Westcoast Actuaries Inc. is pleased to have collaborated with Galinski Pension and Benefits Law again in teaching the advanced course on Family Mediation – Dealing with Difficult Issues in Family Mediation, hosted by the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC (CLEBC). Last week, our Managing Director and Senior Consulting Actuary, Stephen Cheng, partnered up with Colin Galinski, Lawyer and Owner of Galinski Pension Benefits Law, to share their expertise on the actuarial, legal, and practical considerations required for pension divisions and valuations. We want to thank CLEBC for the opportunity to be a part of their great program once again. More information on our Actuarial Evidence services can be found here.

We are pleased to present our 2018 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

The following information is now available: The Registered Plans Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announces that the 2018 money purchase (MP) limit is $26,500, the 2018 defined benefit (DB) limit is $2,944.44, the 2019 registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) dollar limit is $26,500, the 2018 deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) limit is $13,250 and the 2018 year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) is $55,900. Please go here for more information and updates from CRA

The Federal Government has released the Employment Insurance (EI) premium rates and Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE) for 2018. The Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) has determined that premium rates will increase for both employees and employers, and the 2017 MIE of $51,300 will increase to $51,700 in 2018. For employees, the EI premium rate will rise from $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2017, to $1.66 in 2018. The EI premium rate for employers will increase by $0.04, from $2.282 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2017 to $2.324 in 2018.  The CEIC has also announced the 2018 EI Premium Reduction Program which will provide registered employers and their employees with premium relief. Registered employers will be notified individually by the CEIC with the new premium rates.

In their 2017 Budget Update, BC’s Minister of Finance Carole James and the provincial government have announced a 50% Medical Service Plan (MSP) premium reduction. If this legislation is passed by the provincial government, the premium reduction would come into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. The BC NDP have pledged to eliminate MSP premiums and replace the revenues by 2021.

As a response to the current and persistent low interest rate environment the Government of British Columbia has amended the Pension Benefits Standards Regulation to extend the period over which solvency deficiencies can be funded. This new short term funding relief is intended to assist plan sponsors of defined benefit pension plans in managing the financial pressures of funding their plans. The current legislation requires a solvency deficiency to be amortized over a period not exceeding five years. The legislation further requires that each solvency deficiency must be funded separately and may not be combined with any other solvency deficiencies. The amendment permits the plan sponsor to consolidate all existing solvency deficiencies into one new solvency deficiency at the review date (referred to by FICOM as a Fresh Start). The new solvency deficiency may then be amortized over a period not exceeding 10 years (extended from the usual 5-year requirement). The plan sponsor may make an election only once with a specified review date between December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2017, inclusive. For solvency deficiencies established with a review date after December 31, 2017, the 5 year amortization schedule applies. The plan sponsor must disclose to all active members and members receiving retirement benefits or their beneficiaries the fact that the plan has elected to amortize the plan’s solvency deficiency over a period of 10 years.Transfer deficiency payments must still be paid over a period not exceeding five years. In future valuations, the plan sponsor is allowed to include in the calculation of the solvency asset adjustment, the present value of payments that are yet to be made under the new schedule. The plan sponsor may also include the present value of unfunded liability payments required to be made for the remaining period of this extension.

We are pleased to present our 2017 Summary of Government Benefits – a convenient consolidated reference guide of government benefit programs, income tax retirement savings, and pension limits.

The following information is now available on the CRA Web site: The Registered Plans Directorate announces that the 2017 money purchase (MP) limit is $26,230, the 2017 defined benefit (DB) limit is $2,914.44, the 2018 registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) is $26,230, the 2017 deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) limit is $13,115 and the 2017 year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) is $55,300. Please go here for more information and updates from CRA