Mark Newton Mark Newton leads the firm’s National Pensions and Benefits Practice. He handles all aspects of pensions and benefits law, including governance, regulatory compliance, due diligence, purchase and sale agreements, bankruptcy and insolvency, pension investments, retiree benefits and the tax-effective delivery of compensation, pensions and benefits. He also partners with members of our Litigation practice in pension litigation matters.
Among his numerous accomplishments, Mr. Newton has experience with pension plan registrations, mergers, conversions, wind-ups, surplus sharing as well as other transactions, and is involved in all provincial jurisdictions as well as the federal jurisdiction. Moreover, he is an expert in all types of pension and savings plans, including defined contribution, single employer, multi-employer, deferred profit sharing plans (DPSP), registered retirement savings plans (RRSP), employees profit sharing plans (EPSP), employee share plans (ESP), employee benefit plans (EBP), retirement compensation arrangements (RCA) and all forms of supplemental plans.
Outside of the office, Mr. Newton has lectured on taxation at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and has been an instructor on pension governance for Humber College. He is also active in a number of professional associations. He was the Founding Chair of the National Pensions and Benefits Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (2006-2007); Chair of the Pensions and Benefits Section of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) (2005-2006); Co-Chair of the Pension and Benefits Program of OBA’s Annual Institute (2005 and 2006); Co-Chair of and speaker at The Essential Course in Pensions, Osgoode Professional Development Centre (2005-2010); and Panel Moderator of the CBA program: Pensions and Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions (2008). He represents the OBA on both the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities’ (CAPSA) Pension Governance Industry Task Force and the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators’ Task Force on Capital Accumulation Plans. He has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Benefits and Pensions Monitor since 1994. Furthermore, he was an editor of Federated Press’ Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement for several years. Mr. Newton is recognized as a leading practitioner in Employment, Labour and Pensions Law in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business.
Mr. Newton joined Heenan Blaikie in 2006. Education
LL.B., McGill University, 1981 B.A. (Honours), McGill University, 1978 Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (CACE) Canadian Bar Association Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association Ontario Bar Association
Publications and Conferences Kerry: A Clear Case For Pension Reform, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, December 2009. Pensions from Age to Age: Inherently Discriminatory, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, May 2008. Pension Expenses, What Next?, Defined Benefit Monitor, April 2007. Warning for Pension Plan Sponsors: Keep an Eye on Your Providers, Canadian HR Reporter (April 9, 2007). Compensation and Benefits: A Cross-Border Summary, prepared for Ius Laboris US, 2006. Pension Scheme Deficits (2007), wrote the chapter on pension deficits in Canada. A Reality Check for Pension Sponsors: Using the CAPSA Guidelines as a Risk-Management Tool, Canadian HR Reporter (October 23, 2006): 1-2. Co-chair and conference speaker, "The Essential Course in Pensions." Osgoode Professional Development, Osgoode Hall Law School. Toronto, October 23-24, 2006. The Best of Buschau, Benefits & Pensions Monitor, September 2006 Hembruff: The Right Stuff, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, December 2005. Pension Deficits and Corporate Restructuring: "Made in Canada" Solutions?, Financier Worldwide, November 2005. The Three Little Pigs' Perspectives on Flex Plans - 10 Years Later, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, April 2005. Eliminating Mandatory Retirement: Impact on Pensions and Benefits, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, December 2004. Pension Plan Governance a la CAPSA, published by the Ontario Bar Association and by the International Pension and Employee Benefit Lawyers' Association, October 2003. Keeping Taxes out of a Flexible Benefits Plan, Canadian HR Reporter, September 2003. Who Pays the Tax on Fringe Benefits?, Canadian HR Reporter, April 2003. Taxing Core Benefits, Canadian HR Reporter, April 2003. Executive Perquisites and Flexible Perquisite Accounts, Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement, 2000, vol. 11, no. 7. The Feeding Frenzy Continues: Mergers & Acquisitions, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, December 1999. Plump Cows and Scrawny Cows: Innovative Pension Surplus Strategies, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, June 1999. The Total Pay Formula: Balancing Current Compensation and Retirement Income, Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement, 1999, vol. 10, no. 6. Providing Excess Benefits through Unfunded Defined Contribution Plans, Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement, 1996, vol. 7, no. 10. Canadian Handbook of Flexible Benefits, 2nd ed, 1996, John Wiley, authored Part Three: Legal and Regulatory Environment, comprising two chapters. The Three Little Pigs' Perspectives on Flex Plans, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, February 1995. Tax Considerations in the Design of a Flexible Benefits Plan, Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement, 1995, vol. 7, no. 2. Coming Out From Under the Rubble: A Survivor's Guide to Insurance Company Collapse, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, September 1994.
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