Upon its proclamation into force on June 30, 2006, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act, 2006 (OMERS Act, 2006) established a new, independent governance model for OMERS.
A process for reviewing the new model in 2012 is defined in the OMERS Review Act, 2006.
View the OMERS Act, 2006
View the OMERS Review Act, 2006
May 16, 2012
On May 15, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Kathleen Wynne. announced on her Ministry's website that Mr. Tony Dean was appointed as the Reviewer of the OMERS Act 2006, as per the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Review Act, 2006.
May 14, 2012 Letter from Minister Wynne to the OMERS membership announcing Mr. Tony Dean as Reviewer [20 KB]
May 14, 2012 letter from Tony Dean to the OMERS stakeholders outlining his plans and directing them to the Ministry's OMERS Governance Review webpage [33 KB]
The Review Act requires an independent review of the governance model created by the Ontario Legislature in 2006 for OMERS under the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act, 2006. The Review will focus on the actual governance and administration of OMERS since the 2006 OMERS legislation was proclaimed. It will address and evaluate matters that include: (i) the efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making by the OMERS Sponsors Corporation; (ii) the governance model’s effectiveness in ensuring OMERS overall fairness and financial stability; (iii) the governance model’s effectiveness and fairness for employers, members and former members of the plan; and (iv) the governance model’s effectiveness and fairness in ensuring the accountability of OMERS. According to the terms of reference published by the Ontario Government, the following basic principles are to guide the Governance Review.
Regular updates can be found on the Ministry website at http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page316.aspx (English) http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page2422.aspx (French).
February 29, 2012
Under the OMERS Review Act, 2006 the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is required to ensure the appointment of a person to conduct a review in 2012 of the governance model established for OMERS in 2006 under the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act, 2006 (the “OMERS Act, 2006”). In accordance with the statute, the review will be based on actual governance and administration of OMERS since the new governance model became effective. The statutory review is to address the effectiveness and fairness of the OMERS governance model in representing the interest of employers as well as members of the plans, and the efficiency of the governance model, and the effectiveness of the governance model in ensuring the financial stability of OMERS. Upon completion of the review, the person appointed to conduct the review shall submit a report, including any recommendations for changes to the governance model of OMERS, to the Minister.
OAC and the SC are looking forward to the announcement of the process the Minister intends to follow for the 2012 Review and will be prepared to respond to the process when this occurs.
On a separate but related matter, in mid-2011, a notice was posted on the OAC website indicating that, with the assistance of a third-party independent external advisor, the Boards of both the SC and OAC would undertake a joint internal review to assess the adequacy of the OMERS governance model in light of the pending statutory review.
The SC and OAC have diligently worked together with their advisor to undertake this internal review and have now received advice confirming that the governance model at OMERS is generally efficient and effective given the statutory framework in place. The external advisor has also made recommendations to the SC and OAC to improve and streamline OMERS governance practices. The two boards are currently studying these recommendations and working together to develop a plan to address the recommendations, including Board composition and strategy.