Pensions and Benefits

Pension plans are constantly grappling with solvency, funding, risk sharing and governance issues. In light of current demographic shifts and frequent legislative and regulatory changes, these issues remain top of mind for plan administrators across all industries.

We have also seen major changes in employee benefits from employers adapting to the evolving needs of a far more mobile and diverse workforce. Despite the wide variety of available products, the costs of benefits and pension plans place a high burden on businesses striving to remain competitive and attractive to employees.

Comprising lawyers with a broad range of expertise, our Pensions and Benefits team effectively addresses all your legal concerns about pensions and benefits particularly in litigation. Whatever the service required, our team provides continuous support, unrivalled availability, intellectual discipline and advice tailored to your needs.

We navigate industry complexities with ease, leveraging deep experience serving a diverse client base of private companies, insurers, pension committees and plan administrators, and close relationships with key industry players, including actuaries and regulatory authorities. We work with pension lawyers nationwide under longstanding arrangements to represent employers, sponsors and administrators with respect to multi-jurisdictional pension plans.

We collaborate with you at all stages of an engagement, furnishing advice in your best interests. We focus on prevention to avoid confrontation: a skilfully negotiated compromise can save time and money. Yet, where a more aggressive approach is warranted, we do not hesitate to respond with clout.

Our team’s areas of strength include:

• Advice and representation before civil courts and administrative tribunals in disputes of all kinds involving pension and benefit plans, including appeals before the Tribunal administratif du Québec, applications for a declaratory judgment and class actions before the Superior Court of Québec.
• Advice to pension plan sponsors and administrators, as well as pension committees, on pension plan compliance with legislative provisions, regulatory authority guidelines and fiduciary obligations, including the rules governing pension plan administration and governance (such as target benefit plans and multi-jurisdictional multi-employer plans), unclaimed assets, protection of personal information, cyber risks and surplus assets.
• Advice and representation before the courts in insolvency and restructuring matters, including on behalf of pension committees and provisional administrators in connection with a wide range of Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
• Collective bargaining, and grievance and dispute arbitrations related to pension and benefit plans.
• Advice and due diligence on pension and benefit aspects of mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions and reorganizations.