Members of Sanofi pension plan to join CAAT

Effective date expected to be April 1, 2021

Toronto, February 10, 2021 — Two unions representing nearly 1,000 employees of Sanofi Canada have ratified agreements that will see them join the CAAT Pension Plan through DBplus on April 1, 2021.

Most members of the Sanofi bargaining defined benefit pension plan belong to Unifor Local 1701. A small number of members are represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 772. Both unions ratified the agreement to join CAAT in votes taken late last year.

Sanofi represents CAAT’s first company from the pharmaceutical sector. The company and the members of its single-employer pension plan are looking to join the multi-employer CAAT Pension Plan in part to focus on its core business by exiting its pension management function.

Former members, retired members and other persons entitled to benefits from the Sanofi bargaining defined benefit plan must also consent to the merger. Regulations require a 90-day period for consideration, which will end before the April 1, 2021, effective date.

As an innovative and award-winning plan, DBplus is making defined benefit pensions accessible to more working Canadians across the country. Base planning assumptions are that the CAAT Plan, which currently has 70,000 members, is expected to grow by 300,000 in the next six years.

The CAAT Pension Plan is open for growth in membership from the public, private or not-for-profit sectors in Canada. This includes workplaces currently offering defined-benefit pension plans, defined contribution plans, group RRSPs, and those with no current workplace retirement savings plan. Although DBplus was only made available to Canadian workplaces in 2019, members from 50 employers have already joined. CAAT now has members across Canada from 10 industries and has support and participation from 15 unions and member associations.

The employers who have already joined CAAT include Brink’s Canada, Torstar, University of Saskatchewan, Vancouver Foundation, and the United Way of Greater Toronto.

Quotes

“We’re excited about Sanofi Pasteur and its employees joining CAAT. Opening up DBplus to all employers in all industries is an innovation that benefits members and employers across Canada. As a not-for-profit we are also pleased to allow Sanofi and its members to move their past pensions into CAAT on a cost-effective basis.”
Derek W. Dobson, CEO and Plan Manager, CAAT Pension Plan

“Merging Sanofi’s unionized employees’ pension assets into the CAAT DBplus plan represented a win-win outcome for both parties during negotiations. Our employees will benefit from moving to a larger multi-employer pension that includes benefits not covered in their current plan, while we also achieved our objective to reduce liabilities and free up working capital for Research and Development and capital investments.”
Gary Kidson, Head of Human Resources for Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto

“It is gratifying to see more Unifor members join the CAAT DBplus pension. Moving from a single-employer plan to a multi-employer plan gives added security to their retirement incomes.”
Jerry Dias President Unifor National

“We are pleased to support our Operating Engineers decision to join the CAAT award winning DBplus pension plan. The IUOE believes it affords the members a secure and sustainable defined benefit pension plan that can be relied upon to deliver retirement security and peace of mind to them and their families.”
Greg Hoath, Business Manager IUOE Local 772.

For more information:
Media Relations
CAAT Pension Plan
media@caatpension.ca