In the Northwest Territories, registered pension plans are governed by the federal pension benefits legislation, namely the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act. Alternately, federal government employees who are members of federal pension plans (i.e. federal public service employees, Canadian forces, RCMP, members of parliament) have pension benefits which are not regulated by any pension benefits standards legislation and are regulated by the pension plan’s enabling legislation.
Consequently, the pension division options that are available in the Northwest Territories depend on whether the pension plan is a federal government pension plan or a pension plan regulated by the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act.
Under the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act, up to 100% of the benefits earned during the relationship can be assigned to the spouse. If a portion of the member’s pension benefits are assigned to the spouse, the non-member spouse is deemed to have been a member of the pension plan and have terminated their membership in the plan. Most federal pension plans have established administrative policies as to how the non-member spouse can receive their share of the pension, however, typically they will have the choice of an immediate lump sum transfer or a deferred pension in the plan if the member is not retired and they will receive a pension from the plan if the member is retired (the plan may offer a lump sum option and they may convert the spouse’s pension to one payable for their lifetime). For more information, click here.
Federal government pensions are divided in accordance with Pension Benefits Division Act which only allows an immediate lump sum transfer from the pension plan to the non-member spouse. For more information, click here.