Regulatory amendments to certain public-sector pension plans (PPMP, RPSO)
Changes to your public-sector pension plan
Various regulations applicable to the Pension Plan of Management
Personnel (PPMP) and the Retirement Plan for Senior Officials (RPSO)
have recently been amended.
The major changes are as follows:
Increase in the rate of reduction due to early payment of the deferred pension (PPMP)
The annual rate of reduction due to early payment of the pension
(PPMP) is
increased to 6% in the case of a reduced deferred pension.
The rate of reduction due to early payment applies to participants
whose deferred pension takes effect on or after 1 July 2019,
regardless of whether they have completed the additional participation period.
Changes to the tariff schedules for service buy‑backs (PPMP, RPSO)
Changes have been made to the tariff schedules used to calculate
the cost of certain service buy-backs (PPMP, RPSO). These
changes apply to all applications for buy-backs received by Retraite
Québec on or after 1 April 2018.
The changes affect the following service buy‑backs:
- Leave without pay for which applications are received more than
6 months following the end of the leave
- Parental leave for which applications are received more than
6 months following the end of the leave
- Compassionate care leave under way on 1 January 2012, or beginning after that date for which applications are received more than 6 months following the end of the leave
- Service accrued as a casual employee
- Service accrued at a research centre
- Service accrued at an organization before it became subject
to the pension plan.
To learn more about the tariff schedules, see the section on our website.
Changes to eligibility criteria and the calculation of the average
pensionable salary used to calculate the pension accrued under a previous
pension plan (RPSO)
The portion of the pension applicable to years of service accrued
under a previous pension plan is payable without a reduction only if
one of the eligibility criteria provided for in the previous plan is met.
The amendments made to the eligibility criteria and the rules for
calculating the average pensionable salary under the Pension Plan of
Management Personnel (PPMP) in the Act to foster the financial health
and sustainability of the Pension Plan of Management Personnel and to
amend various legislative provisions, assented to on 11 May 2017, have
an impact on the pension accrued under a previous pension plan when
this pension plan is the PPMP.
However, special criteria apply for persons who hold a public-service
position covered by the Retirement Plan for Senior Officials. For persons
who hold or once held a public-service position covered by the RPSO
and whose previous pension plan was the PPMP, the
criteria of the PPMP in effect until 30 June 2019, continue to apply even after
1 July 2019:
- Be at least age 60
- Be at least age 55 and have attained an eligibility factor of 90 (age plus years of service for eligibility purposes)
- Have attained an eligibility factor of 85 (age plus years of
service for eligibility purposes)
In addition, in this case, the average pensionable salary used to
calculate the pension accrued under a previous pension plan is still
established based on the 3 best-paid years of service. For persons who
hold a position in the education or health and social services sector
covered by the RPSO, changes to the previous pension plan concerning
the calculation of the average pensionable salary and the eligibility
criteria for a pension without reduction apply to the pension accrued
in that plan.
Thus, the person's average pensionable salary used to calculate
the pension accrued under the previous plan is based on the 5 best-paid
years of service, and the eligibility criteria for a pension without
reduction are as follows depending on the previous plan:
PPMP
The eligibility criteria in effect until 30 June 2019 are as follows:
- Be at least age 60
- Be at least age 55 and have attained an eligibility factor of 90 (age plus years of service for eligibility purposes)
The eligibility criteria in effect as of 1 July 2019 are as follows:
- Be at least age 61
- Be at least age 56 and have 35 years of service for eligibility purposes
- Be at least age 58 and have attained an eligibility factor of 90 (age plus years of service for eligibility purposes)
Increase in the maximum number of years of service used for calculation purposes (RPSO)
Since 1 January 2017, the maximum number of years of service used to calculate pension benefits has been gradually increasing and will
reach 40 years by 31 December 2018.