The Grenon RRSP was one of thousands of RRSPs established on terms approved by CRA pursuant to a specimen form of plan. For the taxation years at issue, the trustee for those RRSPs filed a T3GR group return, which required the trustees to report certain information for the RRSPs in the group on an aggregate basis and required the trustee to attach a list of all taxable RRSPs under the specific specimen plan containing information specific to each taxable RRSP and its annuitant, including the RRSP's liability for Part XI.1 tax. However, it stated that a trustee was to use the T3 Return to report an RRSP's taxable income.
In finding that the filing of the T3 Group Return did not start the statute-barring period running under s. 152(4), Monaghan JA stated (at paras. 317, 319):
[T]he T3 Group Return was not the prescribed form for Part I. Consistent with this, the T3GR seeks no information about which RRSPs are liable for Part I tax, nor about what their Part I tax liability is, even on an aggregate basis. The T3GR only seeks information about taxes under Part XI (relating to excess foreign property holdings—no longer relevant) —and Part XI.1 (relating to NQI held at month-end). Unsurprisingly, the trust notices of assessment issued to the Trustee assess only those taxes; they neither refer to nor assess Part I tax. …
Grenon RRSP was obligated to file a return under Part I reporting taxable income. By not doing so, it accepted the risk that the Minister would not issue a Part I assessment to start its normal reassessment period.