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Buy-Backs

A buy-back of service is a provision of your pension plan which, under certain conditions, allows you to have recognized periods of work or absence during your career in the public sector. It can be periods of absence without pay or periods of work during which you did not contribute to your pension plan whereas you were eligible.

The data provided by your employer allows us to produce your Statement of Participation. This document provides a detailed picture of your situation for each year of membership (from 1 January to 31 December). You will find all your days of absence that can be bought back.

If you buy-back your days of absence, they will be taken into account to determine whether you are eligible when you retire and the amount of the retirement pension you will receive. In addition to giving you the possibility to retire earlier, the period you buy back will allow you to obtain the same benefits as if you had contributed to your pension plan during the absence.

A buy-back can also give you tax advantages:

  • The amounts paid for a buy-back are generally tax-deductible, unless they come from a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP).
  • The interest added to pay a buy-back in installments can be deducted from your taxable income under certain conditions.

Buy-back periods

Periods of absence without pay

For your absence without pay to be recognized, you must meet the following requirements:

  1. You must be a member of one of these plans:
    • Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan (RREGOP);
    • Pension Plan of Management Personnel (PPMP);
    • Retirement Plan for Senior Officials (RPSO);
    • Pension Plan of Certain Teachers (PPCT);
    • Pension Plan of Peace Officers in Correctional Services (PPPOCS);
    • Superannuation Plan for the Members of the Sûreté du Québec (SPMSQ).
  2. You were absent from work and did not contribute to your pension plan because you were on:
    • maternity leave that began before 1 January 1989;
    • parental leave following a maternity, paternity or adoption leave;
    • a compassionate care leave to care for a family member;
    • leave without pay.

You can also buy back absences that have never been bought back and that are in a period for which your contributions were refunded. However, you must still be a member of that plan.

The periods of absence without pay that can be bought back vary depending on the pension plans and special conditions that may apply. Please consult the information bulletin on the main provisions of your pension plan.

The advantage of applying for a buy-back early

Generally, if you apply for a buy-back for a period of absence without pay within 6 months following the end of that period, the cost of your buy-back could cost less than if you file your application after that time.

Periods of work

The periods of work that can be bought back correspond to the periods of service prior to becoming a member of your pension plan during which you were paid.

For your period of work to be recognized, you must meet the following requirements:

  1. You must be a member of one of these plans:
    • Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan (RREGOP);
    • Pension Plan of Management Personnel (PPMP); Retirement Plan for Senior Officials (RPSO);
    • Pension Plan of Certain Teachers (PPCT);
    • Pension Plan of Peace Officers in Correctional Services (PPPOCS);
    • Superannuation Plan for the Members of the Sûreté du Québec (SPMSQ);
    • Pension Plan of Elected Municipal Officers (PPEMO).

  2. You must have been gainfully employed in the public sector, during which you did not contribute to your public-sector pension plan.

    It can be a period of work during which you worked:
    • as a casual employee, between 1 July 1973 and:
      • 31 December 1986, if you were an employee in the health and social services sector who was on a recall list,
      • 31 December 1987, if you were an employee in the health and social services sector who was not on a recall list, or an employee in the public or education sector;
    • at a research centre in the health and social services sector;
    • on or before 30 June 2011 at an organization that became subject to a plan further to an order in council issued after that date;
    • as a member of the Lieutenant-Governor's, a Minister's or a member of the National Assembly's staff.

Certain periods of work cannot be bought back. For more information, please consult the information bulletin on the main provisions of your pension plan.

Estimate of the cost of a buy-back

You can use the Estimate of the cost of a buy-back under RREGOP and the PPMP tool to quickly and easily obtain the approximate cost of the buy-back. It also indicates the approximate number of years of service (service credited) that could be credited under your pension plan for the buy-back period.

Applying for a buy-back

You must be a member of your pension plan to file an application for a buy-back.

Complete the appropriate application based on your situation:

If you have questions regarding your situation, you can contact the pension plan administrator at your workplace.

Once Retraite Québec has received your application for a buy-back, it will contact your current employer and the employer concerned by the periods to be bought back in order to obtain the information required to process your application. If the study of your file shows that the periods for which you are applying can indeed be bought back, Retraite Québec will send you a buy-back proposal, which you are free to accept, in whole or in part, or reject. The proposal will indicate the cost and payment terms of the buy-back and will be valid for 60 days.

Please note that if Retraite Québec does not receive your acceptance of the buy-back proposal within 60 days from the date of the proposal, your buy-back application will be considered to never have been made.

90-day bank

The provisions of certain plans provide for a 90-day bank that can be automatically added at no cost to your years of service to offset certain periods of absence free of charge.

When Retraite Québec processes your application for a buy-back, it will verify the number of days of absence that you are asking to buy-back. It will deduct the number of days that can be offset by the 90-day bank free of charge. This way, you will only pay to buy-back the days that the bank is unable to offset.

If you do not wish the 90-day bank to be used to process your application, please indicate so on the Application for a buy-back of one or more periods of absence form (RSP-727-ABS).

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