Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
Manitoba: Government tables PRPP bill
The Manitoba government has tabled legislation that would allow for the creation of pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) in the province.
Finance Minister Cameron Friesen tabled Bill 3, The Pooled Registered Pension Plans (Manitoba) Act, in the province’s legislative assembly on Nov. 23 last year.
PRPPs are defined contribution-style pension plans that are administered by a third party (such as a financial institution) rather than an employer. The plans are designed to provide a way of saving for retirement for individuals whose employer does not have its own registered pension plan or for those who are self-employed.
Bill 3 would use the federal Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act as the basis for the Manitoba legislation, with some exceptions and changes to comply with Manitoba law.
Newfoundland and Labrador: Minimum wage rate rising
The Newfoundland and Labrador government will raise the province’s minimum wage rate twice this year, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour Gerry Byrne said recently.
On Apr. 1, the government will increase the rate from $10.50 an hour to $10.75. It will raise the rate again on Oct. 1 to $11.00.
Byrne said the rate hikes would bring the province’s minimum wage rate in line with the rates that are in effect in other Atlantic jurisdictions.
“Currently, Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest minimum wage rate in Canada and that is not where we want workers in this province to be,” Byrne said in a news release.
He also announced that the province would hold public consultations on selecting a method to determine future minimum wage changes based on a measure of inflation.
Ontario: Province enacts PRPP law
Pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) are now allowed in Ontario. On Nov. 8 last year, the Ontario government brought into force its Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act and accompanying regulations.
The Ontario PRPP Act essentially incorporates provisions of a federal Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, with changes where necessary. As with the federal act, participation in the plans is voluntary. Once third parties start offering the plans, Ontario employers will have the option of signing up for them.
Once an employer is registered, it will enroll its employees, who will have the option to opt out. Employee contributions will be deducted at source and employers will remit the amount deducted to the plan administrator. Employers may choose to match employee contributions, but it will not be mandatory.
In enacting its legislation, Ontario joins British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan, as well as the federal government, in allowing PRPPs.
Quebec has a similar law covering voluntary retirement savings plans, but is phasing in a requirement that will make it mandatory for employers to sign up for a plan if they employ at least five employees with a minimum of one year of uninterrupted service and do not already offer payroll deductions for a registered retirement savings plan or tax-free savings account or have a registered pension plan.
Saskatchewan: Compassionate care bill passes
Saskatchewan’s legislative assembly has passed amendments to The Saskatchewan Employment Act that increases the amount of unpaid time off work employees may take for a compassionate care leave from eight weeks to 28 weeks.
Bill 28, The Extension of Compassionate Care Act, 2016, which the province’s legislature passed on Nov. 23 last year, will come into force once it receives royal assent. The bill also amends the act to stipulate that employees may only take one compassionate care leave in a 52-week period.
The provincial government increased the leave period to 28 weeks to better align the province’s compassionate care leave requirements with amendments to the federal Employment Insurance Act, which came into effect last year.
