EmployerCo (a Canadian pubic corporation) will make a contribution at the end of each year to an Account of each Employee and “Approved Holder” (such as an Employee RRSP) equal to $1.00 for every $4.00 in the account (including interest) as a result of a previous employee stock savings plan. At that time, under the terms of this New Plan, the total funds contained in the Employee and Approved Holder Accounts will be used in the following manner:
- To the extent that the funds represent contributions of the employee or approved holder they will be used to purchase common shares from EmployerCo treasury, which shares are then distributed to the Employee or Approved Holder Account before the end of the year.
- To the extent that the funds represent monies contributed by EmployerCo including interest earned on the accounts, they will be contributed to a trust (whose trustees are EmployerCo officers) for the benefit of the employee or approved holder. The trust will then distribute an identical amount to the employee or approved holder, which distribution will be in the form of common shares of EmployerCo which were purchased by the trustees on the open market. These shares are distributed to the Employee or Approved Holder Account before the end of the year.
- The price per share for the purpose of determining both the number of shares which are to be issued from EmployerCo's treasury and the number of shares which are to be distributed by the trust will be the average of the closing price of EmployerCo's common shares on a Canadian stock exchange on the five days on which at least a board lot of EmployerCo's common shares was traded immediately preceding the end of the year (but excluding the days from December 21 to December 31).
An employee may cancel participation in the New Plan at any time and receive a refund of contributions with interest
Rulings that the Trust will constitute an "employee benefit plan," that EmployerCo's contribution, which includes interest on employee's contributions, under the New Plan will be deductible by EmployerCo, in the year that the shares purchased by the trustees are distributed to the employees, pursuant to s, 32.1, and that an amount equal to the fair market value of the common shares of EmployerCo distributed by the trustees to the Employee's Account under the term of the New Plan will be taxable as income to the employee under s. 6(1)(g) of the Act in the year the shares are distributed by the trustees (with such FMV calculated as described above).
