Reimbursement of contribution overpayments and debt remission

Each year, employment is regularized. This operation adjusts the service and salary recognized for simultaneous employment during a given year so that they do not exceed the service or salary normally recognized for a single full-time position. This may result in a refund of excess contributions. Such a refund can also be made at any time during the year if the employer(s) of an individual who holds two or more positions request that the participation data be changed.

See Refund of Contribution Overpayment for more information.

Under the RREGOP and the PPMP, your contributions can only be refunded if you meet all the following requirements:

• You have ceased to be a member of the pension plan for at least 210 days.
• You are under age 55. AND
• You have less than 2 years of service.

Under the TPP and the CSSP, your contributions can only be refunded if you have less than 10 years of service when you resign.

To have your contributions refunded, you must send an Application for Retirement Pension Under a Public-Sector Pension Plan to Retraite Québec.

Debt remission is when we renounce our claim for an amount due,which releases you from repaying that amount. Debt remission can be total or partial.

Debts incurred since 3 November 2015 are automatically remitted, regardless of when we realize an overpayment has beenmade. These debts are related to:

• pension overpayments
• pension credit overpayments
• excess contribution refunds
• excess actuarial values of pensions.

Debt remission due to low income applies to any amount owing for which we have been unable to resort to automatic debt remission. To take advantage of debt remission due to lowincome, you must file an application, and provide certain proof as required.

Send your application to:

Retraite Québec
Régimes de retraite du secteur public
Case postale 5500, succursale Terminus
Québec (Québec) G1K 0G9

You will have to demonstrate that your income and that of your dependents, from all sources, is below thelow-income threshold determined by Statistics Canada(www.statcan.gc.ca). If this situation applies to you, you could be granted a total debt remission. However, if your incomes are equal to or higher than the low income threshold, the remission of your debt will be reduced by 20% for every $1000 of excess income. You will therefore be granted a partial debt remission.

Note that even if your income is below the low income threshold, debt remission does not apply if you could reasonably have been aware of the situation, and the overpayments were made due to:

• an administrative error
• an error in the data provided by your employer
• a change in the projected data for the period between the date on which you applied for the pension and the participation end date. That information must have been used to calculate the amounts that were overpaid or to grant benefits.

For more information about debt remission, refer to the Cahier des normes  This link will open in a new window. (available in French only) on our website.