The Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) announced today that it will seek to intervene in the case of Elaine Nolan et al. v. Kerry Canada Inc.

On January 31, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) agreed to hear an appeal of the case and the ACPM noted that the issues raised in the appeal are of significant importance to occupational pension plans across Canada.

According to the ACPM, the two major questions before the SCC in the Kerry case are whether or not the ongoing costs of administering a pension plan are properly payable from the pension fund and if contribution holidays are properly permitted in a pension plan that combines both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) provisions.

In its decision released in June 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded that plan expenses could be paid from the pension fund in the absence of an explicit prohibition in the plan documents preventing such payment and also condoned contribution holidays taken in respect of a DB/DC arrangement. “The Court of Appeal decision was logical and well-reasoned,” said ACPM president Scott Perkin, in a news release. “Moreover, it provided much needed clarity to plan sponsors and administrators facing similar funding and administration issues.”

“The ACPM will argue that the SCC ought to affirm the reasoning and result reached by the Ontario Court of Appeal,” he added.