Clio Godkewitsch

The applicants sought a declaration that they were entitled to supplementary pension benefits under the respondent's supplementary pension plan following a partial wind up of the registered pension plan.

The partial wind up triggered statutory 'grow in' benefits under the Pension Benefits Act, allowing the applicants to retire early with unreduced pensions.

The court interpreted the supplementary plan's formula, which explicitly excluded 'grow in' benefits from the calculation of the base pension amount.

The court found that when the 'grow in' benefits were excluded, the applicants' base pension amounts were less than the pension benefits they actually earned, resulting in no supplementary benefits being payable.

The application was dismissed, and the court declined to order costs payable from the pension fund.

Former union members sued a union, its local, and trustees of a health and welfare trust seeking an accounting and payment of alleged surplus contributions accumulated in a “dollar bank” benefit system after their expulsion following employer decertification.

The defendants brought a Rule 21 motion to strike the claim for disclosing no cause of action and argued the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction.

The court held the motion was improperly brought without leave after the matter had been set down for trial and was not brought promptly, as the pleadings had been unchanged for over three years.

In any event, the claim raised numerous factual issues requiring evidence, including the interpretation of trust agreements, the effect of an employee benefit booklet, and entitlement to credits upon termination of union membership.

The court also held that the Superior Court had jurisdiction because issues of fiduciary duty and punitive damages fell outside the Labour Relations Board’s authority.

The applicants moved for declarations regarding their pension rights under a supplemental pension plan.

The respondent argued the claims were barred by the Limitations Act, 2002, asserting the limitation period began when option statements denying the benefits were issued.

The court held that the claims were not statute-barred, finding that the cause of action for pension benefits does not crystallize until the payments actually fall due and are wrongfully refused, rather than when an anticipatory breach occurs.