Pension agreements expanded; Marbled Murrelet habitat protected

Summary#

• The Canada Gazette (Part I) published several government notices on April 8, 2023.
• Key items: a routine unaudited financial statement from the Bank of Canada, two pension-agreement updates from the Department of Finance that add provinces to multijurisdictional pension frameworks, and a notice that marine critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet in Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary will gain protection under the Species at Risk Act after 90 days.

What it does#

• Bank of Canada published its unaudited statement of financial position as at February 28, 2023, giving a public snapshot of its assets, liabilities and reserves.
• Under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, the Department of Finance set the effective date July 1, 2023 for the 2023 Agreement Amending the 2020 Agreement Respecting Multi-Jurisdictional Pension Plans. That amendment adds Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador as parties.
• Under the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, the Department set the effective date May 1, 2023 for the 2023 Agreement amending the Multilateral Agreement Respecting Pooled Registered Pension Plans and Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans, which adds New Brunswick.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada gave notice that the marine critical habitat identified for the Marbled Murrelet in the Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary will be covered by subsection 58(1) of the Species at Risk Act starting 90 days after this publication (published April 8, 2023).

Who's affected#

• Employers, plan administrators and members of pension plans that span provincial and federal jurisdictions — especially plans with members in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, or New Brunswick — because the rules about which jurisdiction supervises a plan and which funding or registration laws apply can change.
• Firms and advisers that manage or consult on multi‑jurisdictional pension plans (actuaries, trustees, legal counsel).
• People and organizations working around Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary — boaters, fishers, coastal developers, conservation groups — since critical marine habitat protections can limit or require changes to activities in that area.
• Users of public financial data, researchers and journalists who follow the Bank of Canada’s balance sheet (the statement is an unaudited disclosure).

Why it matters#

• Adding provinces to the pension agreements simplifies and clarifies which rules apply to pension plans that operate across provincial lines. That can reduce duplication, change which regulator a plan deals with, and affect funding requirements and costs for employers and members.
• Expanding the multilateral PRPP/VRSP arrangement (adding New Brunswick) can make it easier to run low‑cost, large pension or savings plans that cross borders — potentially improving access to workplace retirement savings.
• Declaring marine critical habitat for the Marbled Murrelet inside the Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary brings stronger legal protections for that species’ habitat. In practice, that can restrict or require changes to activities (for example, coastal development or certain marine uses) to avoid harming the habitat.
• The Bank of Canada’s published statement is routine transparency about the central bank’s financial position; it’s useful for people tracking monetary and fiscal institutions but does not itself change policy.

If you want, I can pull out the specific pension provisions that typically change when provinces join these agreements (who becomes the “major authority,” how funding rules apply, or the asset‑allocation rules on plan wind‑up) and explain them in plain language.