Winner of the 2007 Walter Owen Book Prize (first edition)

The third edition of Pension Law updates pension law and legislation starting with the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2013 decision in IBM Canada Limited v Waterman, through to the 2020 release of Fraser v Canada (Attorney General). These cases further our legal understanding of pension benefits as bearing the “hallmarks of a property right” and as a source of human rights and dignity. This new edition also tracks regulatory developments, including the shift from solvency to going-concern funding as reflected by exemptions granted to public sector plans, conversions to target benefits and jointly sponsored plans, and industry consolidation.

This book will be an invaluable resource for anyone who needs to understand this complex legal and regulatory environment, including lawyers, human resources officers, plan administrators and trustees, actuaries, accountants, public servants, and union officials.

Ari Kaplan is principal of Kaplan Law, Canada’s first law firm specializing in pensions and benefits dispute resolution. He authored the first edition of Pension Law, which won the 2007 Walter Owen Book Prize for outstanding new contribution to Canadian legal literature. He is Canada’s first Qualified Mediator with expertise in pension and benefits law. He is a past assistant professor at Western University; past adjunct professor at the University of Toronto; past appointee of the Attorney General to the Board of Trustees of the Law Foundation of Ontario; and past chair of the Ontario Bar Association, Pension & Benefits Section. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, ADR Institute of Canada and a founding member of the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario. He practices mindfulness meditation and teaches these skills to lawyers and others. BA (Hons), McGill (1994); LLB, Osgoode (1997), LLM, Osgoode (2001); QMed, ADRIC (2015).

Ari Kaplan's profile page

Mitch Frazer is a partner and the chair of the Pensions and Employment Practice at Torys LLP. His practice focuses on all aspects of pensions, benefits, employment, and executive compensation. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a former adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He is the author of A Practical Guide to Private Pension Plans in Canada (2012), publishes and speaks regularly on pension, benefits, employment, and executive compensation issues, and has been interviewed on television, on radio, and in print.

Mitch is chair of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association. He is also a former chair of the Canadian Bar Association Pension and Benefits Section, the Ontario Bar Association Pension and Benefits Section, and the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s National Policy Committee and National Conference
Committee. He has been recognized by Chambers Global, Lexpert, Best Lawyers in Canada, and Which Lawyer as a leading practitioner in pension and benefits law.

Mitch is also an advocate for educational causes. He is a member of Ryerson University’s Board of Governors and a member of the Toronto French School Board of Directors, and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre.

Mitch Frazer's profile page

• Winner, Walter Owen Book Prize