MC LegalManagement Limited Partnership* (MCLLP)
*MC LegalManagement Limited Partnership is the legal entity that employs the staff of McInnes Cooper.
your merged plan
July 17, 2023
The assets have transferred from The Pension Plan for the Staff of MC LegalManagement Limited Partnership (Registration Number 378000) (the “MCLLP Pension Plan”) to the CAAT Pension Plan. The Nova Scotia Office of the Superintendent of Pensions (the “Nova Scotia Superintendent”) provided consent to the transfer of assets from the MCLLP Pension Plan to the CAAT Pension Plan. The assets, totaling approximately $34 million, were transferred to CAAT on July 10, 2023.
With the transfer of assets, the CAAT Pension Plan assumes responsibility for all defined benefit (“DB”) pensions accrued while in the MCLLP Pension Plan and all pension payments to current retired members of the MCLLP Pension Plan.
Former members of the DB component of the MCLLP Pension Plan should have received a communication with further details about their pension now that the assets have transferred. Should you have any questions, please email info@dbplus.ca.
On March 10, 2022, an overwhelming 94% of plan members of the DB component of the MCLLP Pension Plan voted in favor of merging with the CAAT Pension Plan.
Effective March 28, 2022, all eligible employees started contributing to, and earning, a pension under CAAT’s DBplus plan design. This included full-time employees (whether in a MCLLP Pension Plan, DB or DC, or not at the time) and other-than-regular-full-time employees who were existing members of the MCLLP Pension Plan. Other-than-regular-full-time employees who were not existing members of the MCLLP Pension Plan had the option to join.
CAAT filed applications with the Nova Scotia Superintendent for its consent to the transfer of DB assets from the MCLLP Pension Plan to the CAAT Pension Plan.
On March 20, 2023, Nova Scotia Superintendent provided consent to transfer the DB assets from the MCLLP Pension Plan to the CAAT Pension Plan and DB members of the MCLLP Pension Plan were notified that their past pension benefits will be transferred to and replicated in the CAAT Pension Plan.
Beginning on March 28, 2022, employees of MC LegalManagement Limited Partnership (“MCLLP”) will make contributions to DBplus based on a percentage of eligible earnings indicated in the table below. MCLLP will match employee contributions.
Your DBplus pension will be based on the total contributions, subject to the maximum limits set out in the Income Tax Act (Canada).
MCLLP (McInnes Cooper) member services at the CAAT Pension Plan c/o Mercer | 120 Bremner Boulevard, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M5J 3A9 Toll Free: 1-877-808-7622 Email: CAAT.MCLLP@mercer.com
If the Nova Scotia Superintendent and relevant regulators consent to the merger, active MCLLP Pension Plan members’ total combined retirement pension will be made up of two parts, as indicated in the table below.
Your total pension earned under the MCLLP Pension Plan is the amount you have earned under the MCLLP Pension Plan prior to March 28, 2022. It will be transferred and replicated under the CAAT Pension Plan once the assets are transferred following regulatory approval. This portion of your benefit will be payable to you based on the provisions of the MCLLP Pension Plan. Please refer to your “Notice of Proposed Merger” Package for more details about your MCLLP Pension Plan benefit and any applicable enhancements.
Your DBplus pension refers to the pension you are earning under the DBplus Plan design as of March 28, 2022.
While you work, your DBplus pension will receive conditional Average Industrial Wage (AIW) enhancements, subject to the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (ITA). AIW enhancements are applied at the start of each year that you contribute. Enhancements are applied to the total DBplus pension you earned up until the end of the previous year and are subject to the CAAT Pension Plan Funding Policy.
AIW enhancements are based on the year-over-year percentage increase in Canada's AIW index, measured from July 1 to June 30. These enhancements are cumulative and are not applied in the year of retirement.
Inflation protection refers to increases made to pensions paid to retired members when the CAAT Pension Plan is over 100% funded. Such annual increases are 75% of the change in the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). They are capped at 8% with a carry forward provision (i.e., in years when inflation is high, any amount above 8% would be carried forward and applied to inflation protection in the following years). Conditional increases are effective each January 1, based on the CAAT Pension Plan’s funded status.
Any benefit you earn under DBplus will have annual conditional inflation protection increases applied at the beginning of each year that your pension is being paid to you. Increases will be at a rate of 75% of CPI, subject to the CAAT Pension Plan Funding Policy.