On November 27, 2008, the BC Legislative Assembly passed the Economic Incentive and Stabilization Statutes Amendment Act, 2008 (Bill 45), which included protection for retirement savings as recommended by CBABC. Speaking about the Act on November 25, 2008, Attorney General Wally Oppal, QC cited CBABC President Miriam Maisonville's Vancouver Sun article "Protecting Retirement Savings from Seizure."

Since 2005, the CBABC has advocated to the BC government that it should enact the CBABC Registered Plan (Retirement Income) Exemption Act. For a copy of the CBABC brief and recommended statute, see www.cba.org/BC/Initiatives/pdf/cbabc_brief_11_15_05.pdf).

Bill 45 enacts provisions substantially similar to the CBABC statute.

Bill 45 amends a number of statutes including the Court Order Enforcement Act, Law and Equity Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act.

Amendments to the Court Order Enforcement Act exempt all property in a registered plan from any enforcement process initiated against a registered plan from November 1, 2008. A “registered plan” is defined as: a registered retirement savings plan, deferred profit sharing plan or registered retirement income fund as they are defined in the federal Income Tax Act. This creditor protection is subject to some limits. There is no creditor protection for: property contributed to a registered plan after or within 12 months before the date on which the debt being enforced came due, property that has been paid out of a registered plan or an enforcement process under the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act.

Amendments to the Law and Equity Act include creditor protection, in the event of death of the account holders, for the beneficiaries of the account holders of the proposed tax-free savings accounts under the federal Income Tax Act.

Amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Act include creditor protection for additional voluntary contributions in a similar fashion as the amendments to the Court Order Enforcement Act.

An unofficial copy of Bill 45 as passed by the BC Legislative Assembly is available at: www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/3rd_read/gov45-3.htm.

[posted December 2, 2008]