Related Discussions

• Employment Benefits – PSAB

• Jun 27, 2023

• At its meeting on June 27-28, 2023, the PSAB discussed feedback on the proposed discount rate guidance in the Exposure Draft “Employee Benefits, Proposed Section 3251” and considered options to simplify the assessment of a plan’s funding status. A revised version of the standard is likely to be presented for the Board’s approval in March 2024. To align with PSAB’s Standard-Setting Due Process Manual, if the Board concludes significant changes have been made to the guidance proposed in the exposure draft, re-exposure of the revised standard may be required. This decision will be made at a future meeting.

• Employment Benefits– PSAB

• Mar 30, 2023

• At its meeting on March 30-31, the PSAB provided its feedback on technical and other topics of the project’s first phase, including relating to: category-wide plans; and sufficient information. The Board supported amending the project timelines. Further discussion on the revised timeline for the project will occur at a future meeting.

• Employee Benefits – PSAB

• Sep 28, 2022

• At its meeting on September 28-29, 2022, the PSAB reviewed the Feedback from respondents to the Exposure Draft on other topics of the project’s first phase, including: (i) recognition and presentation of remeasurement gains and losses and the scope; (ii) definitions; and (iii) terminology in the proposed standard. The Board plans to continue its discussion of the Exposure Draft proposals and timelines for the project at future meetings.

• Employment Benefits – PSAB

• Jun 28, 2022

• At its meeting on June 28-29, 2022, the PSAB provided feedback on the analysis of the responses to the July 2021 Exposure Draft. Board feedback was provided on the key topics of the project’s first phase: discount rate guidance and deferral provisions. The Board plans to discuss other topics in the Exposure Draft at its September meeting.

• Employment Benefits – PSAB

• Mar 25, 2021

• At its meeting on March 25, 2021, after extensive deliberation, the PSAB approved an Exposure Draft, “Employee Benefits, Proposed Section PS 3251,” and the accompanying Basis for Conclusions, which sets out the Board’s reasoning for the proposals. The Board expects to issue the document in July 2021, with comments due in November 2021.This Exposure Draft outlines the proposed principles for the first of several phases of PSAB’s revised employee benefits standard. The proposed Section will replace existing Sections PS 3250 and PS 3255. All stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback on these proposals once they are issued in July. Staff will conduct extensive outreach, including on Connect.FRASCanada.ca, the new online community platform that makes providing feedback easier.

• Employment Benefits – PSAB

• Dec 10, 2020

• At its meeting on December 10, 2020, the PSAB discussed and provided feedback on the first release of an Exposure Draft for the employment benefits standard. The Board plans to approve the Exposure Draft for comment at its March 2021 meeting.

• Employee Benefits – PSAB

• Sep 28, 2020

• At its meeting on September 28, 2020, the PSAB discussed the first draft of the employment benefits standard and gave feedback for developing of the exposure draft. The Board will continue to discuss the core topics in upcoming meetings.

• Employee Benefits – PSAB

• Jun 26, 2020

• At its meeting on June 26, 2020, the PSAB reviewed and approved the revised project plan prepared for the Employment Benefits project to develop a new standard. The Board will use principles from International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) 39, Employment Benefits, as a starting point. The Board can modify the IPSAS 39 principles where needed to better fit Canadian circumstances. The Board can also customize guidance where needed. In making its international strategy decision, the Board emphasized that all existing projects underway were grandfathered, which includes the Employment Benefits project. The decision to use IPSAS 39 principles as the starting point represents the Board’s view of the best approach for the project to provide value to stakeholders in a timely manner. PSAB will also employ a multi-release strategy for the project whereby accounting standard functionality is delivered over multiple releases. This means that the first release of the standard will provide the base accounting guidance to be used by PSAB stakeholders with later releases building on those principles to further address current and emerging issues.

• Employment Benefits – AcSOC

• Oct 17, 2019

• At the AcSOC meeting on October 17-18, 2019, the PSAB Chair advised that the Employment Benefits Task Force met in June and September 2019 to deliberate the 130 response letters to the three Invitations to Comment on employment benefits. The Task Force deliberated key issues related to the deferral approach, discount rates, and accounting for non-traditional plans. PSAB received project updates from the Task Force Chair and provided feedback at its June and September 2019 meetings. The Board has decided not to issue a Consultation Paper but will rather proceed directly to developing an Exposure Draft.

• Employment Benefits – PSAB

• Sep 26, 2019

• At its meeting on September 26-27, 2019, the PSAB received a summary of responses to the three ITCs and the Task Force’s deliberations of the key issues. The Board provided feedback to the Task Force for its consideration.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Jun 20, 2019

• At its meeting on June 20-21, 2019, the PSAB received an update on the Employment Benefits project and provided feedback on the Task Force’s work on key issues covered in the Invitations to Comment: (i) “Employment Benefits: Deferral Provisions in Sections PS 3250 and PS 3255” issued in November 2016; and (ii) “Employment Benefits: Discount Rate Guidance in Section PS 3250” issued in November 2017. The PSAB also considered the nature and scope of the project’s next due process document, based on stakeholders’ feedback. The Board agreed that an Exposure Draft would provide stakeholders with a complete picture of the proposed standard, including application guidance and illustrative examples. The PSAB will be provided with an update on key issues covered in (iii) the Invitation to Comment, “Employment Benefits: Non-Traditional Pension Plans” issued in October 2018, at its September 2019 meeting.

• Employment Benefits – AcSOC

• Jun 06, 2019

• At the AcSOC meeting on June 6-7, 2019, the PSAB Chair noted that Canada is at the forefront of non-traditional pension plans. These are plans that involve employers sharing different degrees of risk related to pension benefits with other parties, including employees and other employers. The Board has received 46 comment letters to date on its third ITC relating to non-traditional plans. These letters voiced strong and diverse views from different stakeholder groups and reflected the complexity of some pension arrangements and the continuous evolution of public sector pension plans. The Employment Benefits Advisory Group met in late March 2019 and has scheduled three-day meetings in June, September, and November 2019. It will deliberate responses and develop a consultation paper. PSAB will receive an update on the Task Force’s discussions and approach at its June 2019 meeting.

• Employment Benefits – AcSOC

• Feb 21, 2019

• At the AcSOC meeting on February 21-22, 2019, the PSAB Chair advised that the third ITC, Employment Benefits: Non-traditional Pension Plans, had been issued on October 19, 2018 with a comment period end-date of February 1, 2019. He noted that Canada is at the forefront of non-traditional pension plans. These are plans that involve employers sharing different degrees of risk related pension benefits with other parties, including employees and other employers. 60 comment letters were received as of February 7, 2019 and further responses are expected because some stakeholders (including actuaries, pension plans and unions) have requested extensions of the comment deadline. Comments received indicate diverse views from different stakeholder groups. The Employment Benefits Task Force is expected to meet quarterly in 2019-2020 to deliberate responses for the three ITCs that were issued. PSAB intends to review the draft Statement of Principles for Employment Benefits in March 2020. In response to questions, the PSAB Chair said that he shares the same concern in terms of the time-to-market issue. He also noted that he had several discussions with the PSAB Director and the Employment Benefits Task Force Chair to expedite the process in finalizing the standard.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Sep 27, 2018

• At its meeting on September 27-28, 2018, the PSAB approved the Invitation to Comment, “Employment Benefits: Non-traditional Pension Plans.” Non-traditional pension plans are plans that involve employers sharing different degrees of risk related to pension benefits with other parties, including employees and other employers. The accounting principles and guidance explored in the document may have significant effect on the accrued benefit obligation reported by public sector entities. The Board expects to issue the document in October 2018.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Jun 21, 2018

• At its meeting on June 21-22, 2018, the PSAB received a presentation from the Task Force Chair on the approach, structure and content of the invitation to comment on non-traditional plans. The Board provided feedback to the Task Force. The Board expects to approve the invitation to comment at its September 2018 meeting.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Mar 22, 2018

• At its meeting on March 22-23, 2018, the PSAB received an update on the project from the Task Force Chair and discussed the scope of the invitation to comment on non-traditional plans. The Board will receive an update on the invitation to comment’s development at its June 2018 meeting.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Sep 21, 2017

• At its meeting on September 21-22, 2017, the PSAB approved the Invitation to Comment, “Employment Benefits: Discount Rate Guidance in Section PS 3250.” A key objective of issuing this invitation to comment is to seek stakeholder input prior to PSAB establishing its own preliminary views on the issues. The Board expects to issue the document in November 2017.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Jun 22, 2017

• At its meeting on June 22-23, 2017, the PSAB noted that the Employment Benefits Task Force has been developing an invitation to comment (ITC) on discount rates. The Board received a presentation on the issues related to developing discount rate guidance for estimating accrued benefit obligation. The Board provided its feedback to the Task Force in the approach to the ITC, which is expected to be approved in September and issued in the fall. The Board also considered options for accelerating the project and the related risks and reprioritized the work related to the project and provided direction to streamline the process.

• Employment Benefits - AcSOC

• Jun 08, 2017

• At the AcSOC meeting on June 8-9, 2017, it was noted that PSAB is keeping abreast of the difference of opinion between the Ontario provincial government and the Ontario provincial Auditor General as to whether the pension plan sponsor (the government) is able to benefit from surpluses in government pension funds and recognize them in its financial statements. A member noted that there is a difference of expert opinion among the accountants and the actuaries regarding the interpretation of the applicable standard, and if other parts of PSAB’s Handbook can be referred to by analogy.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Mar 16, 2017

• At its meeting on March 16-17, 2017, the PSAB received an update about the project and reviewed a project plan. PSAB discussed if the process can be streamlined and requested staff to provide options and related risks for its consideration for the June 2017 PSAB meeting.

• Employment Benefits - AcSOC

• Feb 23, 2017

• At the Accounting Standards Oversight Council meeting on February 23-24, 2017, there was an extensive discussion of this project. Discussing New Brunswick’s key accounting and audit decisions in 2014-2016, the Auditor General of New Brunswick commented that the Province’s 2015 financial statements were qualified owing to the Office of the Controller’s use of defined contribution accounting, rather than defined benefit accounting for its shared risk pension plans. She said that the Province had disregarded expert advice that defined contribution accounting was inappropriate for these plans. In 2016 the Office of the Controller agreed with the position of the Auditor General and this resulted in a restatement of the Province’s financial statements receiving a clean audit opinion. Following this, the Chair of PSAB’s Employment Benefits Task Force, presented an update on the project which is a top-priority project for PSAB for a number of reasons, including the following: the evolution of accounting, following the G20’s criticism in 2008 regarding the unrealistic accounting for pensions; criticism of the discount rates used in the public sector to calculate pension obligations; and the creation of shared risk/target benefit plans. The PSAB has adopted a two-phase approach: Phase one will deal with deferral provisions (which smooth liabilities and expenses) and discount rates with potential amendments to the existing employee benefit standards; and Phase two will cover non-traditional and multi-employer defined benefit plans, other issues and improvements, resulting in a new employment benefits standard and the withdrawal of the existing standards.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Sep 26, 2016

• At its meeting on September 26-27, 2016, PSAB approved the Invitation to Comment, “Employment Benefits: Deferral Provisions in Sections PS 3250 and PS 3255.” The document is expected to be issued in the fall of 2016.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Jun 16, 2016

• At its meeting on June 16-17, 2016, the PSAB received an update on the project, including consideration of the approach to an invitation to comment, and provided feedback to the task force.

• Employment Benefits - PSAB

• Dec 15, 2014

• At its meeting on December 15-16, 2014, the PSAB approved an Employment Benefits project. The PSAB intends that, as a result of this project, a new, comprehensive Handbook Section on employment benefits will replace the two existing Sections (Section PS 3250, Retirement Benefits, and Section PS 3255, Post-employment Benefits, Compensated Absences and Termination Benefits).