Manitoba overhauls Pension Benefits Act

Amendments provide immediate vesting of pension benefits and organizations with more than 50 employees will be required to have workers on their pension-management committee.

Winnipeg (27 March 2010) – In an effort to provide more protection for workers, the Manitoba government has proclaimed amendments to its Pension Benefits Act. The changes represent the most significant overhaul of the province’s pension legislation in 35 years.

The new provisions include:

From the day workers join a pension plan, they will be entitled to the benefits they earn under the plan rather than having to wait up to two years;
Workers staying in their jobs past the age of 65 and choosing to defer receiving their pension will see their benefits increase when they do retire. Plans will no longer be able to apply excessive pension reductions when workers retire early;
Workers nearing retirement will be able to work reduced hours and continue pension contributions while collecting partial pension benefit;
Pension plans can offer members options to buy flexible benefits such as enriched early retirement benefits and cost-of-living adjustments;
For most plans with 50 members or more, workers and retirees would have representatives on newly required pension committees providing members with greater input into pension plan administration; and
A new provision would allow members and employers to decide how to distribute the surplus.

Manitoba has the second-highest pension plan coverage in Canada with 46 per cent of the paid labour force participating while the national average is only 39 per cent. Manitoba is the only province to require that all employees belong to a pension plan, when one is offered.

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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE