The Ontario government used Thursday’s budget to announce it will be introducing legislation to create a pension organization that would be responsible for administering the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP), a public plan that is to be in effect in 2017.

The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administration Corporation (ORPP AC) will be a “professional” and “independent” organization, according to the budget document.

It would be responsible for the operations and administration of the ORPP as well as handle investing contributions. It would have a board of directors made up of between nine and 15 members appointed by the province’s Lieutenant Governor in Council. And the budget stresses that board members will be highly qualified and expert individuals, who would be nominated by an independent committee.

The ORPP AC would also be subject to a “transparency and accountability framework based on best practices in pension governance, including annual reporting, an annual meeting and strong financial controls,” states the budget document.

Ontario is also considering additional elements to the accountability framework, which may include an office of the chief actuary to provide actuarial advice related to the ORPP and an appeals process for reviewing administrative decisions by the ORPP AC.

This legislation would require a review of the organization every 10 years to ensure that its mandate, governance and operational framework continue to be appropriate.

An interim chair for the organization could be named in the coming months if this legislation is passed.

The budget also revealed that the government is looking at service-delivery options for pension administration.

“As part of this process, the province is proceeding with a procurement to identify potential third-party service-delivery providers for the ORPP,” according to the budget document.