Leaving your job

Leaving a job with an employer participating in the plan? Find out what you can do with your plan contributions.

Transfer your pension to a locked-in retirement vehicle

If you leave your job before your earliest retirement age, you can transfer the commuted value of your pension to a locked-in retirement vehicle. The commuted value is the amount of money that would need to be set aside today, using current interest rates, to pay for your future pension when you retire.

A locked-in retirement vehicle is an investment product that can provide a lifetime retirement income. Examples include locked-in retirement accounts, registered pension plans, life income funds and deferred annuities provided by a life insurance company.

Are you eligible?

You are eligible to transfer your pension’s commuted value if you are younger than the earliest retirement age of 55 when you apply to transfer.

Other considerations

• If you are appealing termination of long-term disability benefits or dismissal from your employment, call us before you choose the commuted value payment option. We will explain how this option may have irreversible consequences.
• If the commuted value of your pension is less than 20 per cent of the year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) in the year you apply to receive your benefit, you can choose to receive a lump-sum payment. This is known as a small benefit refund.
  • For example, if you remove your benefit from the plan in 2020 (when YMPE is $58,700) and the commuted value of your pension is less than 20 per cent of YMPE ($11,740 or lower), you will be eligible to receive the commuted value as a lump-sum cash payment instead of transferring it to a locked-in retirement vehicle. (Note: YMPE changes each year, so the threshold amount will change annually.)
• If you have applied to buy service for a leave of absence or arrears, we will not finalize the fund transfer until the purchase is complete.
• If you leave your job, you may consider transferring the commuted value of your pension out of the plan, but first be aware of the many advantages you enjoy as a plan member. For more on this, see Defer you pension and keep your benefit in the plan until you retire.