Information on the Annual Information Return (AIR)
In this section, you will find the information necessary to file the annual information return related to a supplemental pension plan subject to the Supplemental Pension Plans Act (except information concerning a simplified pension plan).
Main changes to the 2023 Annual Information Return
- The maximum amount of required fees increases to $175 000.
- The required fees per member or beneficiary (line 15) are now $12.25.
- Changes were made to the content of the General Information and Administration and Investments sections.
Financial report preparation and audit
The plan administrator must, for each fiscal year that has ended, have a financial report prepared in accordance with one of the following two accounting frameworks accepted by Retraite Québec, at the administrator's discretion. With a few exceptions, the financial report must be audited.
Plan whose financial report must be audited
If the plan is subject to a financial report audit, the questions in subsection 3.3, Determining the requirement of a financial audit,
will not be available. The auditor must provide the explanations requested on lines 387 through 389 in the Consult, verify and submit the
AIR section of the annual information return.
Auditors' reports prepared in accordance with the accounting frameworks chosen by the plan administrator and the report on supplementary matters arising from an audit must be produced by the auditor and sent to Retraite Québec at the same time as the AIR.
Plan whose financial report may be exempted from the audit
Under certain conditions 
, a plan can be exempted from the financial report audit for the fiscal year covered by the annual return. The plan administrator must have informed the members and beneficiaries first,
in the notice calling the annual meeting and during the meeting, of its intention not to have the financial report audited and of their right to decide otherwise. The audit can be waived if, during the meeting, less than one-third of the members and beneficiaries are opposed to it.
In that case, subsection 3.3, Determining the requirement of a financial audit, must be completed by the plan's representative or by the persons authorized to complete the
AIR.
The date of the meeting during which the audit exemption was obtained must be shown on line 381.0.
Schedule for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
As long as the
AIR has not been submitted to Retraite Québec, you can complete the schedule for the
CRA through the
SPP Portal. When sending the
AIR to Retraite Québec, the schedule will be sent to the
CRA at the same time and will be available for consultation in the "Add or consult a document" section of the AIR.
Once the
AIR is sent to Retraite Québec,
you can no longer complete the schedule for the
CRA through the
SPP Portal. In that case, you must use the
form available on the
CRA website and send it directly. You must not send it to Retraite Québec.
For any question regarding this schedule, please contact the
CRA's Registered Plans Directorate directly at 1 800 267-3100.
Context-sensitive help and validation of data
The help boxes (context-sensitive help) are positioned on each line or section that requires explanation; they serve to guide users in correctly completing the online return.
A validation function makes it possible to verify the information and correct any errors before submitting the AIR.
If needed, you can consult the
Guide to the Annual Information Return , which contains all the help boxes for each section of the
SPP Portal, including those of the most recent AIR.
Declaration by the plan administrator's representative
The administrator's representative must confirm, before submitting the
AIR, that the plan administrator has considered and can attest to the accuracy and veracity of the information contained therein.
This declaration replaces the signature.
Submit the
AIR and the documents required to complete the return online
The
AIR must be sent online through the
SPP Portal. The related documents, including the independent auditor's report and the report on supplementary matters, can be added in the "Add or consult a document" subsection of the "AIR" section.
Any person that has access to that section of the
SPP Portal can add documents to an
AIR, whether or not it has already been submitted.
Important!
Only the administrator's representative is authorized to submit the
AIR. Therefore, it is important to inform us quickly by
email or through the
SPP Portal electronic messaging service of any change regarding the administrator's representative.
Information on pension committee members
Information concerning the plan administrator, including the contact information of pension committee members, must be updated before submitting the AIR, but can also be changed at any time through the
SPP Portal. Only the administrator's representative and persons authorized to complete the annual information return have access to the information and are able to update it.
Note That...
In order for Retraite Québec to ensure that the makeup of the pension committee complies with the
Supplemental Pension Plans Act, the type of designation
must be selected for each member. For more information, consult the Pension committee section of the
Guide to the Annual Information Return ; an example is shown to help you choose the appropriate type of designation.
Contacting Retraite Québec
If you have access to the
SPP Portal, please use the electronic messaging service to contact the Retraite Québec's Direction générale des régimes complémentaires de retraite. Otherwise, you can contact us:
Important!
Letters are now filed in the
SPP Portal in PDF format
in the Documents section, not in the Electronic messaging section. Retraite Québec no longer sends letters by mail, except to recipients who do not have access to the
SPP Portal.
Useful links: