The employer, Hudson's Bay Company, cross-appealed a trial judgment declaring that it was not a beneficiary of a pension plan trust fund and not entitled to surplus assets on plan termination.
The Court of Appeal applied the framework from Schmidt v. Air Products of Canada Ltd. and found that the original trust agreement created an irrevocable trust for the exclusive benefit of the plan members.
The Court distinguished the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Burke v. Hudson's Bay Co., noting that the originating documents in this case contained exclusive benefit language that precluded the employer from claiming the surplus.
The cross-appeal was dismissed.
