Your Retirement Security

A pension is income received in retirement. Over the course of your working life, both you and your employer make contributions to your pension. Those contributions are then invested, and upon retirement, your pension is paid from that investment fund. Your pension is essentially forced saving on your part and deferred salary on the part of your employer. Your pension is a combination of your savings and deferred compensation from your employer – it’s not money that is gifted to you upon retirement.

Many of our members have defined benefit pension plans. A defined benefit pension plan provides a guaranteed annual income at retirement. Some of our members have a target benefit pension plan. This type of plan also provides an annual income at retirement, but it is not guaranteed because you take on more of the risk associated with the investments and market fluctuations. And some of our members have a defined contribution pension plan. A defined contribution plan does not provide an annual income, instead, you are granted access to your funds upon retirement and you decide what kind of payout model you want.

A defined benefit pension provides a guaranteed annual income at retirement. This is the best type of pension. The employer must ensure the plan is able to pay you and takes on the risk created by investment and market fluctuations. While a target benefit pension pays you an annual income at retirement, it is not guaranteed. If the pension fund does not do well in the market, you may have to pay higher contributions or have your retirement income cut.

PIPSC does not have access to any individual pension information, although you can find some general information on our pensions page. You can find a detailed calculation of your Public Service Pension through the Compensation Web Applications or by phoning the Pension Centre. For other pensions, contact your HR department for additional plan information.

Over the course of your career, you and your employer contribute to your pension. This is essentially forced saving on your part, and deferred compensation on the part of your employer. Those funds are then invested, and upon retirement, your pension is paid from those funds. Depending on the type of pension you have, your employer may be responsible for ensuring that the pension is able to pay you when it comes time for you to retire. However, if a pension plan’s rules are followed and the plan is well-managed, the likelihood of your pension becoming too expensive or unsustainable is low.

We need to protect our own pensions and fight for a secure retirement for everyone.
Federal and provincial governments have opened the door to legislation that could threaten our workplace pensions. For example, in 2016 the federal Liberal government introduced a bill that would have allowed federally regulated and Crown corporation employers to transition secure, defined benefit plans to risky, target benefit plans. And the Conservative provincial government in New Brunswick actually succeeded in passing similar legislation that impacts PIPSC members in that province.

Beyond that, only 37% of people in Canada have workplace pensions to secure their retirement, and only 25% have secure defined benefit plans.

Without a workplace pension, seniors have to rely on personal savings, the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). In Canada as of 2018, only 22% of people who filed taxes contributed to their RRSPs and Canadian households on average saved only $852.

Government retirement programs alone leave many seniors living in poverty. And, precarious jobs today are setting young people up for the same precarious retirement. This is why the Canadian labour movement fights for pensions for all and improvements to these government programs.

Government retirement programs alone leave many seniors living in poverty. And, precarious jobs today are setting young people up for the same precarious retirement. This is why the Canadian labour movement fights for pensions for all and improvements to these government programs. Everyone in Canada deserves a secure retirement.

In 2019, the Canadian Labour Congress fought and won an increase in CPP to one-third of the average income from one-quarter. An important step toward the goal of increasing CPP to 50% of average income. We can win and ensure a secure retirement for everyone.

We stand with the Canadian Labour Congress in the fight for a secure retirement for all. It is unacceptable to have elders living below the poverty line and we won’t stand by and allow that same fate for young workers.