By virtue of the powers vested in it by the Supplemental Pension Plans Act and the
Plan Regulation, the Retirement Committee is responsible for soundly administering the pension plan and paying promised benefits to participants and their heirs. It applies the rules provided under the Plan Regulation and ensures that the legal requirements are met.
Main duties
The Retirement Committee meets approximately four times a year. It performs the following duties and exercises the following powers:
It administers, implements and interprets the Plan's Regulation and rules on any relevant issue or incident;
It prepares administrative rules specifying how various sections of the Plan's Regulation are to be implemented;
It submits recommendations for any amendments to the Regulation that it considers necessary to the Federation Board of Directors;
It informs members and retirees of their rights, privileges and obligations under the Plan's Regulation and the Act;
It calls and holds an annual meeting at which it gives an account of its administration to members and representatives of employers. It may decide to hold regional meetings if need be;
It chooses the Plan actuary and has this person conduct actuarial valuations in keeping with the statutes and regulations in force;
It accepts the actuary's recommendations regarding the method for determining how to apply the interest rate to be credited for member contributions and recommends the contribution rate required to meet Plan requirements to the Federation Board of Directors;
It makes proposals to the Federation Board of Directors regarding the use of any actuarial surplus and ensures that deficits are amortized in compliance with the law;
It appoints an external auditor for the Plan, agrees on an annual auditing program and follows up on any recommendations made by the auditor;
It ensures that contributions are collected properly and authorizes the payment of all benefits and refunds;
It concludes with the approval of the Federation Board of Directors any transfer agreements that may prove favourable to Desjardins Group employers;
It determines the usual conditions that should apply to the redemption of past or current service by members or employers and ratifies all service redemption agreements;
It determines the procedure for crediting entitlements resulting from transfers other than those via master agreements;
It sets the conditions for determining and implementing the interest rate to be credited for contributions paid by members;
It defines the Plan's fund investment policy; it distributes retirement funds to one or more managers and, if applicable, it manages any portion of the retirement funds it deems appropriate;
It represents the Plan before government agencies and sends the agencies all reports requested by them;
It delegates all or part of its powers, and it retains the services of anyone involved in the administration of the Plan and the management of the retirement fund.