On June 23, 2012, the federal government published a proposed amendment to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Regulations which would repeal section 12 of the Regulations. That section establishes quantitative investment limits in respect of Canadian resource and real properties. Repeal of this section would align the Regulations with the Pension Benefits Standards Regulation, 1985 (“PBSR”), allowing the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) to rely on the prudent person standard and giving it the same investment flexibility as that available to federally regulated pension plans operating under the PBSR, as amended in 2010, and provincially regulated plans influenced by the PBSR. The amendment would also repeal section 3 of the Regulations, which states that “a corporation is a subsidiary of another corporation if it is controlled by the other corporation.”

Interested parties may comment on this proposed amendment to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Regulations no later than July 23, 2012.

A similar proposed amendment to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Regulations (“PSPIBR”) was also published by the federal government on June 23, 2012. This amendment would repeal section 12 of the PSPIBR, which establishes the quantitative investment limits in respect of Canadian resource and real properties. Repeal of this section would allow the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSPIB”) to rely on the prudent person standard, giving it the same flexibility as is currently available to those pension plans regulated under the PBSR. The amendment would also expand the definition of “related party” in the PSPIBR to include individuals entitled to benefits under the Reserve Force Pension Plan Regulations.

Interested parties may comment on this proposed amendment to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Regulations no later than July 23, 2012.