Workplace Safety and Insurance Board conducts pension plan conversion

On July 1, 2020, Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and the Ontario Compensation Employees Union converted WSIB's $3.5 billion defined benefit, single employer pension plan (SEPP) to a jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP) that is now administered by an independent Board of Trustees.  

The WSIB plan is now listed as a JSPP under the Pension Benefits Act, consistent with a number of Ontario's largest pension funds, such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the College of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.

Gowling WLG was co-counsel to WSIB, in its role as the employer and administrator of the SEPP and one of the co-sponsors of the JSPP, with a team led by Daniel Hayhurst and that included Ash Gupta (tax), Carl Hinzmann (tax and investments) and Cara Stoller (investments).