When I lived in the UK, I set up a Personal Pension for my young daughter. We then moved to Canada and she is now an adult. The pension is not huge, but it is growing. Of course she cannot access it until she is 55. So how is it meant to be treated by Revenue Canada now? Does she say nothing and then report when she draws it out at 55, or does it have to be reported annually?
When you moved to Canada, you need to declare your “specified foreign property” if the total cost amount of such property exceeds $100,000. Please check the CRA website: “Foreign Income Verification Statement” for further information. Since you mention that the personal pension is not huge, maybe you don’t need to report the property.
If you are contributing to this foreign pension plan, then your Pension Adjustment will be impacted. Please check CRA website: Line 20600 – Pension Adjustment.
You can also contact your local financial institutions and ask whether you can transfer this UK pension plan into a Canadian RRSP. However, you need to be careful about the possibility that the UK will withhold tax on this pension plan if you do so (causing double taxation).
To further clarify whether to report this UK pension plan for your daughter this year, you can contact CRA directly at 1-800-267-3100.
Also, you may want to check Foreign Income and Tax Treaties.
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