NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 2008FIN0022-001822 Nov. 28, 2008	Ministry of Finance and Ministry responsible for the Olympics Alberta Finance and Enterprise
B.C. AND ALBERTA RELEASE REPORT ON PENSION STANDARDS

VICTORIA – The British Columbia and Alberta governments have released the report of the Joint Expert Panel on Pension Standards, which provides recommendations to harmonize and modernize the pension standards legislation of the two provinces and improve access to pension plans.

 

            Interested members of the public are invited to review the report and provide feedback about the recommendations. This feedback and the panel’s recommendations will be carefully considered by both governments before any new policy is set.

 

            “The appointment of the panel is an important example of co-operation between Alberta and British Columbia in the spirit of our Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement,” said Colin Hansen, British Columbia’s Minister of Finance. “Minister Evans and I have agreed to continue to collaborate on this important project to modernize and harmonize our pension standards and create a better environment for workplace pensions in our two provinces.”

 

            “This is a landmark review of Alberta’s and British Columbia’s pension legislation,” said Iris Evans, Alberta’s Minister of Finance and Enterprise. “The report and feedback will provide a solid base for a strategy for increased opportunity and choice in the pension environment for individuals, businesses and investors in both provinces.”

 

            Three experts from Alberta and three from British Columbia were appointed to review and report on each province’s existing pension legislation. As part of the review, the panel accepted more than 100 written submissions from stakeholders and met with more than 40 stakeholder groups. The report provides 125 recommendations to improve pension standards in both provinces.

 

            For copies of the report, Getting our Acts Together: Pension Reform in Alberta and British Columbia, and to provide feedback, visit www.ab-bc-pensionreview.ca/. Written feedback will be accepted until March 2, 2009.

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1 backgrounder(s) attached.
Media contact:	Rena Kendall-Craden British Columbia Ministry of Finance 250 356-2821	Bart Johnson Alberta Finance and Enterprise 780 427-5364
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