The Queen v. Albino, 94 DTC 6071, [1994] 1 CTC 205 (FCTD) -- summary under Retiring Allowance

In 1973, the taxpayer agreed to participate in an "incentive performance plan" of his employer under which the taxpayer was granted "share equivalent units" from time to time which "vested" between five and ten years after the date of granting and which provided for payments being made only upon the taxpayer ceasing to be an employee. Given that one of the two objectives of the plan was to provide an incentive for important employees to remain with the company (the other being to provide an incentive for such employees to continue devoting their energies towards the continued growth of the company), a lump sum in excess of $600,000 received by the taxpayer when he was terminated by the company in 1987 was a retiring allowance rather than remuneration under ss.6(3) and 5(1) and, therefore, was subject only to tax in accordance with s. 212(1)(j.1) of the Act.