Enrolment is mandatory for all new Pilots hired or who transfer to WestJet on or after January 1, 2025, upon completion of a 90-day waiting period, as applicable.
Upgrading your Pension education sessions
Above are video recordings of the WestJet in person education sessions that occurred throughout September 2024 about WestJet’s participation in the CAAT Pension Plan. All comments and responses during the sessions were based on the CAAT Pension Plan’s understanding of industry studies and information that was current as at the date the sessions were held, and are intended for information purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. A detailed legal description of the CAAT Pension Plan provisions can be found in the CAAT Pension Plan text. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and consistency, should there be any discrepancies between the video content and the CAAT Pension Plan text, the terms of the Plan text shall prevail.
Frequently asked questions
On the later of January 1, 2025 and the date which is 90 calendar days form your date of hire, eligible WestJet Mainline Pilots (“Pilots”) will be automatically enrolled in the DBplus plan design. DBplus is an innovative pension plan design from the CAAT Pension Plan that provides members like you with a lifetime pension in retirement. Members and their employers both contribute to building a secure, sustainable retirement income that’s paid for life upon retirement.
Once enrolled, you will begin contributing to DBplus through payroll deductions and WestJet, An Alberta Partnership (“WestJet”) will also contribute on your behalf.
After you have been automatically enrolled, CAAT will send you a welcome package with your membership ID. We encourage you to register for CAAT’s member portal, My Pension, where you can submit your beneficiary form and manage your personal information.
Yes, there is a 90-day waiting period, which begins on your most recent date of hire with WestJet. However, if you have transferred to WestJet from an associated employing entity in the WestJet Group, or a non-affiliated employing entity which may occur due to a bona fide business integration, you will also be able to participate in DBplus and your employment with such entity counts toward the 90-day waiting period. If you have been with WestJet longer than 3 months, this waiting period no longer applies to you.
Once enrolled, Pilots will contribute 1% of their Eligible Earnings (which, for greater certainty means regular base salary or wages of a participating pilot, excluding any overtime, commissions, bonuses or other cash or non-cash compensation (the “Eligible Earnings”) to DBplus. WestJet will contribute 10% based on an employee’s Eligible Earnings for a combined employee and employer contribution to DBplus of 11%.
The formula is made up of two parts:
- Annual Base Pension: The annual base pension is calculated at the end of each year that you contribute. The pension formula adds your contributions plus the contributions your employer makes on your behalf and multiplies them by a pension factor of 9.5%1.
- Conditional Average Industrial Wage (AIW) enhancements: At the start of each year in which you are a contributing member, AIW enhancements are applied to the total pension you earned in DBplus to the end of the previous year, subject to the CAAT Plan’s Funding Policy. Calculated by Statistics Canada, AIW represents the growth in wages over time.
To learn more about the funding policy visit the Funding page on CAAT’s website.
1The annual pension factor is subject to the CAAT Pension Plan Funding Policy.
No, your DBplus pension is based on the earnings you receive each year while you are a contributing member of the CAAT Plan. The pension you earn while working is based on the total contributions made by you and WestJet each year. The conditional AIW enhancements provide wage inflation protection up to your retirement.
You can use your custom estimator, which allows you to get an estimate of the valuable lifetime retirement income you could earn with DBplus. You can input variables like pilot positions, upgrades, downgrades, etc., for a more accurate estimate.
The DBplus Estimator makes projections based on the data you entered and assumptions such as future AIW and salary increases. With this information, the estimator makes a projection of the annual lifetime pension you could receive in future dollars.
No, there is no minimum time required to participate in the plan. Your pension will start accruing as soon as contributions are made to DBplus and your pension will be vested immediately. Such benefits are locked-in until your retirement (note there are some limited exceptions).
Once you join the Plan, you cannot opt out or stop contributions while employed with a participating employer. If you decide to work past the normal retirement age of 65, you and your employer will continue contributing and will earn more retirement income. However, by November 30 of the year you turn 71, you must stop contributing to DBplus and start collecting your pension, even if you continue working. This is an Income Tax Act rule.
The normal retirement age in the CAAT Pension Plan is age 65. DBplus offers flexible early retirement options as early as age 50.
Yes, if you decide to retire and start your pension early a reduction will apply for each year you are away from the normal retirement date of age 65. This reduction to your pension reflects the fact that you will be receiving a lifetime pension for a longer period of time.
If you elect to start your pension within your extension of membership period (defined as 24-months from the date you terminated employment and last made contributions to the Plan), and before age 65 an early start adjustment will be applied. The reduction rate is currently 3% for each year you are away from age 65. This adjustment is dependent on the Plan’s funding level and can be between 3% and 5%. As a comparison, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) reduces pensions by 7.2% per year away from age 65.
If your extension of membership has expired, and you chose to keep a deferred pension in the Plan, should you elect to start your pension early it will be reduced by 5% for each year you are away from age 65. If you start your pension at age 65, no reduction is applied.
No, you can count on receiving predictable, secure monthly pension payments for as long as you live. Past benefits already earned, including enhancements, once granted, can never be reduced while the Plan is ongoing.
As part of CAAT’s fiduciary duty to its members the CAAT Pension Plan Funding Policy has been used to manage through periods of volatility to keep the Plan sustainable over the long term. The policy was built on the Plan’s fundamental principles of paying both promised and conditional benefits and its commitment to equity across the entire membership, and from generation to generation.
With CAAT’s DBplus plan design, not only do you receive a predictable lifetime pension, but you also receive valuable survivor benefits, which includes a lifetime pension for an eligible surviving spouse equal to 60% of your pension at the time of your death, plus conditional inflation protection and pre-retirement death benefits.
For more survivor benefit information visit Survivor Benefits on the CAAT website or at your DBplus resource hub.
If you have an eligible spouse when your pension starts, you can choose to reduce your pension permanently in exchange for an increase in the survivor pension paid to that eligible spouse to 75% of your lifetime pension. You must make this choice before the first monthly payment of your pension, and it cannot be changed once it is made. Your retirement option forms will include details on the impact to your lifetime pension if you choose this option so that you can make an informed decision at that time.
The CAAT plan has a minimum guarantee of 180 months of pension payments should you and your spouse both die early in retirement.
For more survivor benefit information visit Survivor Benefits on the CAAT website.
Yes, CAAT will continue to pay you your regular monthly pension if you retire abroad. If you spend time during the year abroad, your pension payment will continue to be deposited into your Canadian bank account. Even if you relocate to another country permanently, you can choose to use the direct deposit service to a Canadian bank – or you can have your cheque (in Canadian funds) mailed to your foreign address.
Please note that the income tax deducted from your employment and government pensions may be affected by your new country of residence. The Canada Revenue Agency offers a variety of information that you should investigate before you leave.
CAAT only makes direct deposits to Canadian accounts. For a fee, you may be able to arrange with CAAT’s custodian, CIBC Mellon, to have your pension wired for deposit to your foreign account. Please be aware that your bank may also charge a fee for processing the wire transfer. Contact CIBC Mellon if you wish to pursue this.
Alternatively, you can request that your pension be paid by cheque, or have your pension deposited into a Canadian bank and access the account from abroad.
Total employee and employer contributions to DBplus each calendar year are subject to Income Tax Act limits. This means contributions are capped at the Money Purchase limit, which is $33,810 for 2025. The Money Purchase limit increases each year and is published by the Canada Revenue Agency.
CAAT is a jointly sponsored pension plan. Under this structure, employees are required to contribute a minimum of 1%, while employers must at least match employee contributions.
No, Pilots cannot contribute more than 1% to DBplus.
CAAT’s team of investment professionals oversees the Plan's investment strategy as set out in its Board of Trustees-approved investment policies. They select investment management firms, funds and co-investments that meet CAAT’s criteria and quality standards, and they monitor performance against targets for both returns and for risk.
Comprehensive information – including investment strategy, investment policies, responsible investing, information about asset mix and performance, and the investment team – can be found on CAAT’s website in the Investments section and in the Plan’s Annual Report.
Conditional inflation protection comes in two forms for DBplus pensions: Average Industrial Wage (AIW) enhancements and indexation.
AIW enhancements grow DBplus pensions while a member works. At the start of each year, an AIW enhancement is applied to the total DBplus pension earned up until the end of the previous year. These annual AIW enhancements are based on the year-over-year percentage increase in Canada's AIW index, measured from July 1 to June 30.
In retirement, conditional inflation protection increases (or pension indexation) will be applied to pensions in pay to help protect the purchasing power of your pension. Inflation protection is applied annually at the beginning of each year. It is currently applied at a rate of 75% of the year-over-year change in the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) – capped at an annual increase of 8%.
Both the AIW enhancement and inflation protection are conditional on the funded status of the CAAT Pension Plan based on its Funding Policy. They are cumulative, meaning, once granted they cannot be taken away. The funded status of the CAAT Pension Plan is very strong. Based on the most recent valuation as of January 1, 2025, the Plan is 124% funded on a going- concern basis. As a result, CAAT has not missed an inflation adjustment since it was first introduced in 2007, and conditional inflation protection has been approved through 2027.
Your contributions to DBplus will generate a Pension Adjustment (PA) and the PA is reported on your T4. RRSP contribution room is calculated each year as 18% of your prior year’s earnings to a maximum of $33,810 (the Money Purchase Limit for 2025) minus your prior year’s PA.
Example 1:
Annual earnings of $160,000
18% of annual earnings = $28,800
11% pension contribution = $17,600
Accrued pension benefit = 9.5%* x $17,600 = $1,672
Money Purchase Limit for 2025 is $33,810
PA calculation: (9 x accrued benefit) - 600 x min (1,(total contributions/Money Purchase Limit))
PA = (9 x $1,672) – 600 x ($17,600/$33,810) = $14,736
2026 RRSP Room generated = $28,800 – $14,736 = $14,064
Example 2:
Annual earnings of $350,000
18% of annual earnings = $63,000 so the $33,810 limit applies
11% pension contribution = $33,810 (maximum allowable contribution for DBplus for 2025)
Accrued pension benefit = 9.5%* x $33,810 = $3,211.95
PA calculation: (9 x accrued benefit) - 600 x min (1,(total contributions/Money Purchase Limit))
PA = (9 x $3,211.95) – 600 = $28,308
2026 RRSP Room generated = $33,810 – $28,308 = $5,502
NOTE: Pilots earning $307,364 and higher in 2025 would have contributed the maximum dollar amount allowed in DBplus yet still have $5,502 of room that they can contribute to an RRSP next year for a total of $39,312 TAX SHELTERED SAVINGS, whereas if they’d been participating in the WSP RRSP they’d be limited to $33,810 (2026 RRSP limit). This is because DBplus has more efficient tax treatment.
*The annual pension factor is subject to the CAAT Pension Plan Funding Policy.
You will not get a separate tax receipt for your contributions. Your annual T4 slip will include your previous year’s pension contributions and your Pension Adjustment which you will report on your income tax return to receive your tax deduction for your contributions to DBplus.
You may contact CAAT Pension Plan by phone at 416-673-9000 (or toll-free at 1-866-350-2228) or by email at member@caatpension.ca. Identify yourself as an employee of WestJet and CAAT’s representatives will help you with any questions you have.