Share Trust Update

In our July 2024 update, we mentioned that we were waiting for amendments to federal Income Tax Regulations (ITR). We are pleased to share that these amendments were approved and implemented in March 2025. While there are still several steps and approvals needed before we can offer voluntary separation packages (VSPs) to employees or make lump sum payments to pensioners from the Share Trust, this is a significant milestone.

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our Canadian-based unions and to the Pionairs for their continuous and meaningful support in achieving this step. Now that the federal ITR amendments are done, we can and are pursuing a tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) which will be followed by one from Revenu Quebec. The Quebec ruling will require an amendment to Quebec income tax regulations like the federal one. To not lose any time, we’ve already done a lot of work to move forward with these rulings (and all the other steps), and now that we have the federal ITR amendment, we’re re-engaging with CRA for their ruling.

Unfortunately, the federal amendments took much longer than we would have expected or wanted, even with support from the Department of Finance, our Unions, and the Pionairs. As a result, it’s unlikely that VSPs and lump sum payments to pensioners will be offered or paid before early 2026. We’re committed to moving forward as quickly as possible, but we don’t control the timing for all approvals and conditions, so further delays are
possible.

Thank you for your patience and support as we navigate this process.