Making a purchase in DBplus

For Members employed at Terry Fox Research Institute.

If you choose to make the purchase

As a member of the CAAT Pension Plan, you have the option to transfer some or all of your benefit with Canada Life into DBplus. This is called a “pension purchase”, and it will let you get a bigger pension from one of Canada’s most sustainable and fastest-growing pension plans.

The amount of pension you purchase using your funds from your benefit with Canada Life will become part of your total DBplus pension. While you’re working, your total pension will grow with conditional Average Industrial Wage (AIW) increases, and when you retire, it will continue to grow with conditional inflation protection. Your total pension – the portion you’re earning and the portion you purchase – will be paid to you when you retire for as long as you live.

How to complete the T2151 form

Why make a purchase in DBplus?

Your pension will be paid to you every month when you retire, for the rest of your life. Making a purchase will enhance the DBplus pension you’re earning.

Here are five more reasons a DBplus pension purchase might be right for you:

  1. A bigger pension: The amount of pension you purchase will be added to the pension you’re earning in DBplus, increasing your lifetime pension.
  2. A simpler retirement: Consolidating your retirement savings into will spare you the time, effort and stress associated with managing your own investments.
  3. No commission; no additional fees: Your pension is securely managed by CAAT’s pension and investment professionals.
  4. Retire when the time is right for you: Choose your retirement date without worrying about market performance or outliving your savings. You may even be able to retire sooner than you originally planned.
  5. Valuable benefits included: Your pension includes conditional inflation protection increases after you retire and a survivor pension at no additional cost to you or your spouse.

Purchase Process

  1. Canada Life:

  2. When you receive your termination package from Canada Life, select 'Transfer to a locked-in retirement account (LIRA), registered pension plan, or elect a deferred annuity from a Canadian life insurance company'.
    **You may need to select this option under Locked-In Funds and/or Non-Locked-In Funds
  3. When you receive your purchase package from CAAT, sign the T2151 form and return it to Canada Life.

  4. CAAT Pension Plan:

  5. Sign the purchase election form from the purchase package and return it to CAAT.
  6. Congratulations - you are done! After you have completed these steps, Canada Life will initiate the transfer of your prior DC balance to CAAT.

Where to find more information

Purchases can be complex, but CAAT is making it easy by breaking down the purchase process into three stages – Learn, Return, Earn. Visit the DBplus purchases page for an overview, then access the following pages for details, videos and more.

After you enrol in DBplus, you’ll be able to activate My Pension, CAAT’s online pension portal, to get access to your pension information along with an interactive pension estimator. With a few clicks, you can estimate your pension, then see how a purchase can increase it. To activate your account, visit the “Login page” and click on “My Pension” to learn more.

If you haven’t enrolled in DBplus yet, you can still estimate the value of a purchase by visiting the DBplus Pension Estimator.

DBplus Pension Estimator

To get started, select your employer name from the available list of employers and agree to the terms of use. After you enter some key information such as your date of birth and your earnings, you’ll get an estimate of your pension at age 65. You’ll then have the option to “See the value of a purchase” to estimate how much your prior plan balance will purchase in DBplus, and the impact it will have on your overall pension.

Only you can decide if a purchase is a good idea for you, and if it’s a cost-effective way to increase your pension.

You may wish to seek independent financial advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve answered your most-asked questions about purchases. If you have further questions about how a purchase can add value to your CAAT pension, email our purchase experts at purchase@caatpension.ca.

There are Income Tax Act maximums that apply to the amount you can contribute for your purchase, which may vary depending on the type of purchase you make. Your purchase amount is limited to the lesser of:

  • 18% of your T4 earnings for the period you are purchasing, or
  • the amount of funds in your registered retirement savings accounts.

You can choose an amount lower than the maximum amount shown in your purchase package. A partial purchase will result in an annual lifetime pension that is lower than the one provided in your purchase package. CAAT will calculate the amount of pension when your payment is received, and will notify you of that amount in writing within 30 days.

You can make a purchase at any time during your membership, but the sooner you make the purchase, the more valuable it is. For each year that you are over age 40 when you make the purchase, the amount of pension your purchase will buy will be reduced by 1.4%.

You must be enrolled in DBplus, and eligible under applicable pension and tax law. In general, to be eligible:

  • the purchase must be tied to eligible periods of employment after 1990 with your current employer or during which you participated in a previous employer’s Canadian registered pension plan;
  • the funds must come from a registered retirement vehicle (e.g., LIRA, RRSP, or defined contribution (DC) pension plan; and
  • the amount you can transfer for a purchase is limited by the Income Tax Act to 18% of cumulative T4 earnings (excluding taxable benefits) for a pre-enrolment period being purchased.

Plan to attend a webinar to learn more

Before you make your purchase decision, we encourage you to attend a pension purchase webinar. This interactive session is hosted by CAAT, and led by pension experts who can answer your questions about making a purchase.

Watch the recorded session: