Stakeholder comments and suggestions regarding proposed plan changes are always welcome and will be included in Board Meeting information packages. Emails and letters received less than 36-hours before a scheduled meeting (March 20, April 26, May 24, June 28) will be included with the subsequent information package.
As defined in the OMERS Act, 2006, a Specified Plan Change is:
Specified Plan Changes can be evaluated at any time, but can only be considered for approval under the rules and protocol described in By-Law #12. The timeline and a high level overview of the steps which may be required are described below:
The annual cycle for considering Specified Plan Change (SPC) proposals takes into account the availability of annual actuarial/various projection valuations, the requirements of regulatory filing dates for approved decisions and stakeholder budget planning requirements. Before the SC makes any decisions, proposals are evaluated from a range of perspectives (actuarial, legal, regulatory, etc.) and in consideration of other factors and circumstances.
To learn more about the framework used in the decision-making process for Specified Plan Changes, see our Statement of Plan Design Objectives and Strategy.
While Stakeholders may submit requests for SPCs at any time during the year, any not received by the last day of February will be held over to the following cycle. For a Stakeholder request to become a proposal which the entire SC deliberates - it must be 'tabled' by an SC Member.
Proposals are formally tabled during meetings held in March and April; additional research and review may continue.
The final set of SPC proposals and a certain level of technical research and diligence must be completed by May 14.
At meetings during this period, Members may amend, withdraw, approve, reject or move any SPC to mediation/arbitration. Approval of an SPC requires a two-thirds majority; a rejected SPC requires a simple majority to move to mediation/arbitration.