Appeal from Ontario pension litigation concerning whether an employer could charge plan administration expenses to a pension trust fund, take contribution holidays in a defined benefit component, and use actuarial surplus from that component to satisfy contribution obligations for a newly added defined contribution component.
The majority held that reasonableness review applied to the Financial Services Tribunal's determinations, upheld the finding that most plan expenses were payable from the fund, and confirmed that the defined benefit contribution holidays were permitted under the plan text.
The majority further held that it was reasonable for the Tribunal to permit defined contribution holidays once retroactive amendments designated defined contribution members as beneficiaries of the same trust.
The Tribunal lacked authority to order costs from the fund because the fund was not a party, and the courts properly declined to award the appellants' costs from the fund because the litigation was adversarial.
