Pensions & Benefits
Canada Guide 2025 : Nationwide - Canada
Band 4
About
Provided by Dentons Canada LLP
The team at Dentons is one of the most experienced in Canada. Our lawyers are recognized across the country as leaders in pension and benefit law, and are regularly consulted by provincial and federal government entities for input on pension policy and legislation.
We help employers, administrators, trustees and pension committees understand their options and governance responsibilities. We combine deep, technical knowledge with decades of practical experience to offer our clients solutions and legal protections in dealing with the day-to-day administration of their employee benefit plans.
We advise on employee and executive compensation, including the complete range of benefits, such as pension plans, deferred equity compensation plans, supplementary retirement compensation arrangements, employee stock purchase plans, de-risking and annuity buy-ins, capital accumulation retirement savings plans, profit-sharing plans, retiree benefits and other group benefit plans.
In Ontario, Dentons is particularly well-known for assisting with “section 81 transfers” thereby enabling pension plan sponsors to merge their pension plans to achieve significant financial savings and reduce administrative costs.
We act for private and public sector employers with both unionized and non-unionized workforces. We advise on the pension issues involved in mergers and acquisitions, and we represent clients before courts and tribunals across the country.
Chambers Review
Dentons is recognised for its work on pension plan wind-ups and mergers, as well as advising on the pensions and benefits aspects of M&A transactions and insolvencies. The firm is commended for its provision of strategic planning advice to provincially and federally regulated pension plans. It fields noteworthy teams of pensions lawyers in both Toronto and Vancouver, with multinational clients benefiting from their ability to call upon the firm's global network when handling cross-border matters.
Work Highlights
- Dentons acted as counsel to Greyhound Canada Transportation to wind-up their three defined benefit plans, supplemental pensions and post-retirement benefit plans.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"We know that we can depend on the Dentons team to provide us with expert, business-oriented and cost-effective advice across a wide swath of subject matter areas."
"Scott and the team are very responsive."
"We always get a very timely service. I believe they do a lot to ensure that their customers are well taken care of. They are always reaching out to see how we are doing; often it's just a social call."
"We know that we can depend on the Dentons team to provide us with expert, business-oriented and cost-effective advice across a wide swath of subject matter areas."
"Scott and the team are very responsive."
"We always get a very timely service. I believe they do a lot to ensure that their customers are well taken care of. They are always reaching out to see how we are doing; often it's just a social call."
Notable Practitioners
Vancouver-based Scott Sweatman of Dentons advises on a variety of pensions and benefits issues, including regulatory compliance and the impact of M&A on plans. He represents domestic and international clients, and has experience acting for multi-employer plan sponsors.
"Scott is very responsive, reliable and always provides us with practical, business-driven advice."
"Scott is a very good lawyer and deeply knowledgeable in pensions work. He is truly a pension practitioner."
"Scott is an exemplary lawyer and he's highly respected within our organisation and others we work with."