An important way to maximize your retirement income
life events
By purchasing any past periods of leave or other eligible service, you can increase your pensionable service and reach certain early retirement milestones sooner.
Purchases fall into two general categories:
The cost of a purchase will depend on when you choose to make it.
If you make a purchase within six months after the end of your leave, the cost is two times your contributions.
If you wait longer than six months, the cost is the greater of two times your contributions (based on the rates at the time of the purchase) or “actuarial” cost (which means the true cost of adding that amount of service to your pension). Generally, the longer you wait, the more the leave costs.
Keep in mind: If you don't meet the original payment deadlines, the cost that you've been quoted will be recalculated. This is because the combination of your age, earnings and years of membership will increase over time.
With a couple of exceptions, you are responsible for the full cost of the purchase, with no contributions from your employer. Remember that during your regular active service, your employer contributes the same amount as you.
In most cases, payment will be in a lump sum. You may have the choice of paying by cash, or by a transfer from your RRSP (there are situations where you could be restricted to one or the other).
You can choose to make the purchase up until you retire or leave your job.
Once you sign the purchase form, you will have 90 days to make full payment at the quoted cost. If the payment is made after 90 days, the amount owing will be recalculated.
In the same way your regular CAAT Plan contributions are tax deductible, a service purchase will be deductible if you pay in cash and have RRSP contribution room. This "room" for the current year is determined by your Pension Adjustment (PA) amount - that is, the deemed value, calculated by your employer, of the pension benefit you earned in the previous year.
A Past Service Pension Adjustment (PSPA) is the deemed value of the additional benefit created by the purchase - it reduces your RRSP contribution room. To create room for the purchase within your RRSP, you may need to withdraw some funds from it, which will be considered taxable income in the year the funds are withdrawn, or you may need to transfer funds from your RRSP to purchase the leave.
Keep in mind: A purchase may affect your PA amount. If you pay for a leave of absence before April 30 of the year after the leave ends, it will be included in the PA reported for the period.
If you choose to buy the leave after April 30 of the following year, we will have to calculate a PSPA and send it for approval to the Canada Revenue Agency before the purchase can be completed.
Note that PAs have been used since 1990. These calculations are not required for service periods before that year. However, there are some other tax issues, such as the pre-1990 deductibility limit of $3,500, which you would need to consider.
Federal law places a maximum on the amount of post-1990 unpaid leaves of absence you can purchase. The total amount is 5 years, plus an additional 3 years for pregnancy or parental leave.
Your decision to make a purchase will be affected by the issues of tax deductibility, PAs and the possibility of a PSPA.
If you have already retired or terminated employment, you are not eligible to make a purchase, unless you are rehired and resume membership in the Plan.
Although pre-1992 service can be purchased, it must be transferred directly from the previous plan–it cannot be purchased using cash or through an RRSP transfer.
Funds from Group RRSPs, and Deferred Profit Sharing Plans (DPSPs) are not eligible to be transferred into the CAAT Plan.
If you earned a pension in another Canadian registered pension plan, you might be able to bring that service into the CAAT Plan.
The cost, which is paid entirely by you, is the actuarial cost, based on your current salary. You can make the purchase using cash or an RRSP transfer. Even if the funds from your previous employer have been transferred to a locked-in retirement account, the service will still be eligible to be purchased.
Transferring service into the CAAT Plan cannot result in more service than you had in your previous plan.
The transfer process is different, depending on whether your pension is still with your previous employer's pension plan, or was transferred into your registered retirement savings account.
If you think this type of purchase may be appropriate for you, download one of the timelines below to help you get started.
Transfer from a former employer's pension plan - Benefit with former pension plan
Transfer from a former employer's pension plan - Benefit transferred out of former plan
Exceptions:
If you were away from work, on an approved leave of absence, you can make a purchase for this period either with cash or through an RRSP transfer.
The cost depends on when you make the purchase:
If you make the purchase within six months after you return to work
If you make the purchase more than six months after you return to work
The process depends on the timing of your purchase. Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started:
Unpaid Leave of Absence purchase - within six months from end of leave (PDF)
Breaks in CAAT Pension Plan Service - after six months from end of leave (PDF)
You can make a purchase for this period either with cash or through an RRSP transfer.
The cost depends on when you make the purchase.
If your jurisdiction of employment is not Ontario, the Employment Standards Act (Ontario) does not apply to you. Contact your employer’s HR department to determine if your leave is eligible under the applicable legislation based on your jurisdiction of employment.
*Note that Pregnancy, adoption or parental leaves are statutory leaves covered under the Employment Standards Act, but they have different purchase processes. Refer below to “I took pregnancy, parental or adoption leave resulting from the birth or adoption of a child” for more information and to find the correct form to get started.
Employment Standards Act Leave of Absence - within six months from end of leave (PDF)
Breaks in CAAT Pension Plan service - after six months from end of leave (PDF)
You can buy this service through regular deductions by your employer from Supplementary Unemployment Benefit (SUB) Plan payments you receive during the leave period.
Making the purchase during your leave through the SUB plan
If you are entitled to receive SUB Plan payments from your employer, your contributions may be deducted directly from these payments. You can continue to accumulate pensionable service and benefit from the matching contributions your employer makes during your leave.
Your employer will provide you with the form that you will have to complete and sign. Generally, it is to your advantage to purchase these leaves, however if you decide against it, you must complete the waiver section of the form and return it to your employer.
If you are not entitled to SUB Plan payments, or you do not wish to have contributions deducted from your payments, you can make the purchase when you return to work.
Making the purchase when you return to work
You have the option to make the purchase when you return to work. In that case, the cost will depend on when you make the purchase, and you can pay with either cash or a transfer from your RRSP.
Pregnancy, Adoption or Parental Leave Service Purchase – within six months from end of leave (PDF)
"Pre-enrolment service" is a special category of employment contract that applies to the Ontario college system (full time Sessional, Appendix D, or Full-time contract) that you can purchase in respect of full-time service with a participating employer prior to January 1, 2014, provided you became a regular (i.e. non-contract) full-time employee with no break in employment. Your employer will pay the employer's share of contributions. Your current employer will make the payment, based on current earnings, regardless of which participating employer you were at when you acquired the service.
You can make your portion of the payment either with cash or through RRSP transfer. If you buy the service within six months of becoming a regular full-time employee, you'll pay regular contributions based on your salary at the time you choose the purchase. If six months have passed, you’ll pay the higher of 50% of the actuarial cost, with your employer paying an equal amount, or your share of the contributions, based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the purchase.
Once you sign the purchase form, you'll have 90 days to make full payment at the quoted cost. If the payment is made after 90 days, the amount owing will be recalculated.
Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started (PDF)
You can make a purchase for any period during which you were working part time or on contract for an employer that participates in the CAAT Plan, before you became a full-time member.
You pay 100% of the actuarial cost of the purchase, with no employer contributions.
If you return to work with an employer that participates in the CAAT Pension Plan, you can make a purchase for this previous period of membership.
The cost to you is the full actuarial cost, with no employer matching contributions.
If you return to work with an employer that participates in the CAAT Pension Plan, you can make a purchase for this period of membership.
The cost to you is the full actuarial cost, and there is no employer contribution.
If you are buying service accrued before 1992, payment for it must come from a transfer from an RRSP. If you are buying service accrued after 1991, payment can generally be with cash or through a transfer from your RRSP.
If, before your grievance was resolved, your contributions were refunded or the commuted value of your pension was transferred out of the Plan, you can purchase the period by repaying any amounts you received or transferred out when you return to work. The Plan will calculate the cost, which will include interest charges. If this cost is more than the current worth of the amount you received, due to investment fees or losses, you are responsible for the difference. You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.
You will have the choice of paying with cash or through RRSP transfer, unless you are buying back service accrued before 1992. In this case, payment must come from an RRSP.
While waiting to be recalled, if you did not receive a refund of your contributions or transfer the commuted value of your pension benefit out of the Plan, you can purchase the layoff period as an unpaid leave of absence when you return to work. You can use either cash or an RRSP transfer. You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.
For any strike period that occurs after January 1, 2018, the cost of purchasing the service will depend on when the purchase is made. You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.
If you make the purchase within six months from the end of the strike
If you make the purchase more than six months after the end of the strike
Deciding whether or not to purchase this service is entirely up to you. The CAAT Plan provides tools to help you determine if a service purchase is right and affordable for you, before you make the commitment to buy.
With our Actuarial Cost Estimate (ACE) Tool, you can get an estimate of the service purchase cost directly from our website.
An actuarial cost is the estimated cost of purchasing your service based on your current age and salary rate. Using the ACE tool, you can determine the cost of purchasing a certain number of years of service or the number of years of service you can purchase with a certain amount of money.
Once you’ve received your estimate and have decided to pursue the purchase, you can download and complete the purchase application form, which is generated once you use the ACE Tool. Your current employer, and possibly your former employer will have to assist you to complete the form.
Step 1 - Get an Actuarial Cost Estimate
Before you can get a formal purchase quote, you will need to visit our online Actuarial Cost Estimate tool.
Simply input a few pieces of information and our online tool will provide an estimate of the cost of purchasing your service.
Once you have an idea of the approximate cost of purchasing this service, you can decide whether or not a purchase is right for you. It may be that the funds available to you from your previous employer will not be enough to purchase all of the service available to you. In that case you may decide to purchase less service. It may help to use our online Pension Estimator to see how much the additional service will affect your CAAT Plan pension.
It’s important to note that the cost shown is an estimate only. The actual cost will only be determined once you’ve submitted the appropriate forms to receive a formal quote. Access the ACE Tool.
Step 2 - Submit your Service Purchase Application form
After you’ve used the online ACE Tool to complete your estimate, you will be able to download a Purchase Application form. If you decide to proceed with the purchase, this form will have to be completed and returned to the CAAT Pension Plan. There’s no deadline to submit the form to us.
The “member” portion of the form asks for basic information that will identify you. Complete this section and submit the form to your previous employer. The details that your previous employer will provide, such as your earnings and service history, will be used by the CAAT Plan to prepare a formal quote based on actual data.
Return the completed and signed purchase application form to the CAAT Pension Plan.
Note: There may be some situations in which it may be difficult to retrieve your earnings and service data, (e.g. old employment records no longer exist). In these cases you will have to prove your eligible service using documents such as T4s, employment contracts, annual pension statements and termination option documents from the prior plan.
Step 3 – Make your purchase
You will receive an information package by mail. It will include a formal quote which will provide the actual cost of purchasing the service, along with your payment options and deadlines. Once you’ve received the quote, you’ll have 90 days to let the Plan know if you intend to proceed with the purchase.
If you don’t make the purchase within 90 days, but choose to make it at a later date, the CAAT Plan will prepare a new quote based on your age and salary at the time.
Step 4 - Confirmation letter
Once your payment is received, the CAAT Plan will mail you a confirmation letter.
Note: You may wish to seek independent financial advice, particularly around the tax implications of this purchase.
Use this tool to get service purchase estimates if you work full-time and are earning a pension in DBprime.
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