Multilateral Agreement Respecting PRPPs and VRSPs – Past newsletter article (2016)

Representatives of the governments of Canada, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Saskatchewan have signed a new Multilateral Agreement Respecting Pooled Registered Pension Plans and Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (PRPP Agreement), which came into effect between those jurisdictions on June 15, 2016. The PRPP Agreement is between the federal government and those provinces that have implemented legislation for pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) or, in the case of Quebec, Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (VRSPs).

The PRPP Agreement is intended to streamline the regulation and supervision of PRPPs that are subject to the federal Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act (PRPP Act) and the PRPP legislation of at least one province participating in the agreement. The PRPP Agreement effectively delegates to OSFI responsibility for licensing, registering and supervising PRPPs whose operations fall within the jurisdiction of both the federal government and that of the participating provinces. The PRPP Agreement does not give OSFI responsibility with respect to VRSPs, but permits authorized VRSP administrators to act as PRPP administrators under the federal PRPP Act if they register a PRPP federally.