Learn: DBprime purchases

First stage of your purchase process

 

DBPRIME PURCHASES

What you’ll learn in this stage

See if you have eligible periods to purchase and types of purchases available.

Links to the easy-to-use ACE Tool and the purchase application form that's right for you.

You can choose to make a purchase any time until you leave your job or retire, but keep in mind that purchases take time to complete. The cost of a purchase is based on factors such as your age and earnings and may increase the longer you wait. Consider your options as early as possible, so you can start the purchase process today for a more secure tomorrow.

All about your purchase options

As a member of the CAAT Pension Plan, you may be able to make a purchase for an eligible period of time.

Purchases before you were a member of DBprime include time during which:

  • You participated in a Canadian registered pension plan (not the CAAT Pension Plan), offered by a previous employer. You can transfer those pension credits into the CAAT Plan.
  • You are a member of DBprime now but did not enrol right away when you started to work for your current employer (e.g., you worked part time and chose not to enrol).

Purchases for leaves while you’re a member of DBprime include:

  • A period when you didn’t make contributions because you were on a leave of absence or other eligible leave.

Types of purchases

Review the following scenarios to see if you have eligible periods of time that can be purchased. For each purchase type, you will find details about who contributes, eligible funds you can use for the purchase, timelines, and processes.

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:

  • Periods of membership in Group RRSPs, and Deferred Profit Sharing Plans are not eligible for purchase in DBprime.
  • Periods of employment that took place before 1992 cannot be purchased using cash or an RRSP transfer-- the funds must be transferred directly from the previous plan.

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

  • The cost is two times your regular contribution based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the leave, and your deemed earnings during the leave period.
  • You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.

If you make the purchase more than six months after you return to work

  • You’ll pay the higher of the full actuarial cost or two times regular contributions, based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of purchase.
  • You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.

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 you make the purchase within six months after you return to work

  • The cost will be your regular contributions based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the leave, and the deemed earnings during the leave period. Your employer will match these contributions.

If you make the purchase more than six months after you return to work

  • You'll pay the higher of the full actuarial cost, or two times regular contributions, based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the purchase. You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer. Under the Employment Standards Act (Ontario) a statutory leave includes:
    • Family medical leave
    • Organ donor leave
    • Family caregiver leave
    • Critical illness leave
    • Child death leave
    • Crime-related child disappearance leave
    • Domestic or sexual violence leave
    • Sick leave
    • Family responsibility leave
    • Bereavement leave
    • Emergency leave, declared emergencies
    • Pregnancy leave *
    • Parental leave *

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.

The process depends on the timing of your purchase. Download the Service Purchase Timeline 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.

If you make the purchase within six months after you return to work

  • The cost will be your regular contributions, based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the leave, and the deemed earnings during the leave period.
  • Your employer will match your contributions.

If you make the purchase more than six months after you return to work

  • You'll pay the higher of the full actuarial cost, or two times regular contributions, based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the purchase.
  • You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.

The process depends on the timing of your purchase. Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started:

Pregnancy, Adoption or Parental Leave Service 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 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.

Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started (PDF)

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.

Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started (PDF)

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.

Download the Service Purchase Timeline to get started (PDF)

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.

If you make the purchase within six months after you return to work:

  • Your cost will be two times your regular contributions based on the contribution rates in effect at the time of the leave and your deemed contributory earnings during the leave period.
  • You will pay 100% of the cost with no matching contributions from your employer.

If you make the purchase more than six months after you return to work:

  • You will pay the higher of two times your contributions, based on the contribution rate at the time of the purchase, or the actuarial cost.
  • 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:

  • You pay two times contributions based on your salary at the start of the work stoppage and the contribution rates in effect during the strike.

If you make the purchase more than six months after the end of the strike:

  • You pay the higher of two times contributions, based on the rates in effect at the time of the purchase, or the actuarial cost.

Deciding whether to purchase this service is entirely up to you. If you make your purchase within six months of returning from leave, your employer will assist you with the process. However, if you decide to make the purchase more than six months after your return to work, 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 estimate the service purchase cost directly from our website. You’ll need this estimate to get a formal purchase quote from the CAAT.

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, you can download and complete the purchase application form which is generated once you use the ACE Tool.

How to use the ACE Tool

To get started, input a few pieces of information and the ACE 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 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:

Download the form from the estimator

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.

Proceed to Return stage.

More about the cost and benefits of making a pension purchase

Click the title to read the article or use the “visit the support centre” button for more.

Visit the support centre