Multilateral Agreement Respecting Pooled Registered Pension Plans and Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans

Effective May 1, 2023, New Brunswick joined the Multilateral Agreement Respecting Pooled Registered Pension Plans and Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (the PRPP Agreement), which was already in place between the governments of Canada, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Manitoba.

The PRPP Agreement is intended to streamline the regulation and supervision of Pooled Registered Pension Plans (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 a participating province. The PRPP Agreement does not give OSFI responsibility with respect to Quebec’s Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (VRSPs) but permits authorized VRSP administrators to act as PRPP administrators under the federal PRPP Act without having to obtain a licence to be a PRPP administrator. Other provincial governments may sign the PRPP agreement in the future once they have PRPP legislation in place.

The PRPP Agreement was introduced effective June 15, 2016 and was amended twice in 2017 (the March 31, 2017 Amending Agreement and the November 15, 2017 Amending Agreement) prior to the most recent amendments in 2023 (the May 1, 2023 Amending Agreement). Amendments to the original PRPP Agreement reflect new signatories, make administrative changes, and clarify the powers of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. In addition to adding New Brunswick as a signatory, the May 1, 2023 Amending Agreement clarifies that OSFI will not exercise the powers of a provincial supervisory authority with respect to certain activities, e.g., approving unlocking or financial hardship withdrawals from retirement savings plans or locked-in accounts where those funds originated from a PRPP.

Below is a link to a consolidated version of the PRPP Agreement that incorporates the amendments and includes all parties to the agreement as of May 1, 2023. Please note that the consolidated version is not an official version and is posted for ease of reference only. Links to the official versions of the original 2016 PRPP Agreement and the March 31, 2017, November 15, 2017, and May 1, 2023 amending agreements published in the Canada Gazette are provided below. The official versions should be consulted for purposes of interpreting and applying the PRPP Agreement and its amendments.

Consolidated version of the PRPP Agreement

• May 1, 2023 Amending Agreement
• November 15, 2017 Amending Agreement
• March 31, 2017 Amending Agreement
• June 15, 2016 PRPP Agreement

For further information please see the FAQs on PRPPs.