About Us > Governance > External Consultants and service providers

External Consultants and service providers

Registered pension plans, in order to fulfil their obligations towards their members, must ensure the accurate management of plan funds and strict adherence to pension legislation. In order to carry out its fiduciary responsibilities, the CAAT Pension Plan's Board of Trustees turns to the specialized skills and advice offered by service providers and external consultants that operate in the financial and pension industries.

Governance

Investing in good governance

Members of the Board of Trustees and Sponsors' Committee

CAAT Pension Plan Sponsors

Plan governance and policies

A History of Security and Trust

A Brief look at the CAAT Pension Plan

The Plan enlists the services of certain organizations to hold the positions of Actuary, Auditor, Custodian, Pension Payroll Agent and Legal Counsel. The performance of each provider is reviewed on a regular basis. The Plan also routinely tenders for new providers in order to ensure the highest possible quality of service is retained.

Using outside agencies allows the Plan to take advantage of the knowledge and skills they can provide. The third-party organizations that we employ adhere to strict governance policies the Plan must follow. For example, the providers that have access to your personal information may only use this information during the course of carrying out duties pertaining to the pension plan.

Currently, the Plan's service providers are:

Actuary - Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Auditor - Deloitte & Touche LLP

Custodian / Pension Payroll Agent - CIBC Mellon

Legal Counsel - Gowlings / Koskie Minsky / Osler / Blakes

Any changes to these positions will be announced in our newsletter and on our website.

The role of the Actuary

Registered pension plans are required to file Actuarial Valuations with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) once every three years. Valuations provide the regulators, and the Plan, with an in-depth analysis of the plan's financial condition.

Preparing a valuation involves providing detailed data about the CAAT Pension Plan Membership as well as the fund and investment returns to the Plan's Actuary. The Actuary must be a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) who is authorized to sign valuations. The Actuary produces the valuation using actuarial tables and assumptions regarding future conditions such as mortality, investment returns, salary and inflation. Once the valuation is completed, it must be signed by the Actuary and filed with FSCO.

The role of the Auditor

In order to comply with pension legislation, registered pension plans must file annual Audited Financial Statements with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). Audits are meant to ensure that FSCO receives complete and error-free documentation of the fund's financial condition.

Each year, the Plan's finance department completes the previous year's Financial Statements. These Statements must be examined by an external Auditor who is an accountant licensed to sign Audited Financial Statements and is a member of a public accounting body conducting an auditing practice. Once the Financial Statements have undergone the Auditor's assessment, they are reviewed by the Board of Trustees and filed with FSCO.

The role of the Custodian

The main role of the pension plan's Custodian is to receive the Employer and Employee contributions on behalf of the Plan. It maintains the invested assets, keeps the accounts for all investment activity and provides activity reports to the Board of Trustees.

The role of the Pension Payroll Agent

The Pension Payroll Agent oversees the Plan's pension payments. It ensures that the Plan's Pensioners receive their monthly pensions by coordinating the automatic deposit to bank accounts in Canada or the mailing of cheques to those who reside outside the country.

In addition, once a Member terminates employment with a College, the pension payroll agent, upon direction from Plan staff, is responsible for paying or transferring out lump sum pension benefits.

The role of Legal Counsel

A variety of laws regulate the structure and administration of pension plans in Canada. Registered pension plans must ensure compliance with laws such as the Income Tax Act and the Pension Benefits Act as well as other less obvious but significant legislation such as Trust Law, Family Law, Human Rights, Worker's Compensation and Employment Insurance.

Specialized legal counsel is a must for pension plans in order to comply with the diverse legal requirements. Representatives from the Plan's legal counsel who practise in the pension field provide written opinions and advise on specific issues. Their involvement ensures that the decisions reached comply with all laws governing the Plan.

May 2010