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Reserve Force Pension Plan Regulations (SOR/2007-32)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2016-03-29. Previous Versions

PART 2Benefits (continued)

DIVISION 1Member’s Benefits

Participant Who Has Less Than Two Years of Pensionable Service

Marginal note:Return of contributions

  •  (1) A member who ceases to be a participant and has to their credit less than two years of pensionable service is entitled to a return of any amounts paid by the member into the Fund and remaining to the member’s credit, together with interest, if any, these amounts and the interest constituting a return of contributions.

  • Marginal note:Entitlement extinguished

    (2) This entitlement shall be extinguished if, before the return of contributions is paid, the member is required to contribute to the Canadian Forces Pension Fund.

Marginal note:Interest calculation

 Interest shall be calculated, for every quarter following the first quarter during which the member makes contributions, up to and including the quarter preceding the quarter in which the return of contributions is made, on the total of

  • (a) amounts paid by the member into the Fund and remaining to the member’s credit as of the end of the quarter preceding the quarter in which the calculation is being made, and

  • (b) the interest calculated for all quarters preceding the quarter in which the calculation is being made.

Marginal note:Setting of rate of interest

  •  (1) The rate of interest is equal to the effective quarterly rate determined from the annual rate of return of the Canadian Forces Pension Fund published in the previous fiscal year’s annual report for the Public Sector Pension Investment Board as laid before each House of Parliament under subsection 48(3) of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act.

  • Marginal note:Negative rate of return

    (2) If the rate of return is negative, the rate of interest shall be zero per cent.

Participant Who Has Not Less Than Two Years of Pensionable Service

Immediate Annuity, Deferred Annuity, Annual Allowance and Bridge Benefit

Marginal note:Amount of annuity

 The amount of an annuity to which a member may become entitled is an amount equal to 1.5 per cent of the greater of the member’s total pensionable earnings and total updated pensionable earnings.

Marginal note:Days of Canadian Forces service

  •  (1) For the purposes of paragraph 43(1)(a), days of Canadian Forces service are

    • (a) in the regular force, days of service for which pay — excluding allowances provided under the Act — was authorized to be paid and days of leave for maternity or parental purposes granted under the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces; and

    • (b) in the reserve force,

      • (i) days of service for which pay — excluding allowances provided under the Act — was authorized to be paid, except that any day of service for which pay was authorized to be paid for a period of duty or training of less than six hours shall be considered to be ½ of a day,

      • (ii) in the proportion determined under subsection (3), days in a period of exemption or leave as referred to in paragraph 2(b), and

      • (iii) in the proportion of ¼ of a day for each day, days in a period before April 1, 1999, where the records of the Canadian Forces or the Department of National Defence permit the verification of the duration of the period but not the number of days of service for which pay — excluding allowances provided under the Act — was authorized to be paid.

  • Marginal note:Augmentation

    (2) Each day of service for which pay — excluding allowances provided under the Act — was authorized to be paid during which the member was on Class “A” Reserve Service within the meaning of article 9.06 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces shall count as 1 2/5 days of Canadian Forces service.

  • Marginal note:Maternity or parental leave

    (3) The proportion in which days in a period of exemption or leave referred to in paragraph 2(b) shall count as days of Canadian Forces service shall be determined by the formula

    A/B

    where

    A
    is the number of the member’s days of Canadian Forces service in the 364 days prior to the period; and
    B
    is the number of days in the 364 days that the member was a member of the Canadian Forces.
  • Marginal note:Rounding up

    (4) Any total number of days of Canadian Forces service that includes a fraction shall be rounded to the next higher multiple of a day.

  • SOR/2016-64, s. 68

Marginal note:Immediate annuity

  •  (1) A member who ceases to be a participant and has to their credit not less than two years of pensionable service is entitled to an immediate annuity, if

    • (a) they have completed not less than 9,131 days of Canadian Forces service;

    • (b) they have reached 60 years of age;

    • (c) they have reached 55 years of age and have to their credit not less than 30 years of pensionable service;

    • (d) they are disabled by reason of suffering from a physical or mental impairment that

      • (i) prevents the member from engaging in any employment for which the member is reasonably suited by virtue of education, training or experience, and

      • (ii) can reasonably be expected to last for the remainder of the member’s lifetime; or

    • (e) they cease, otherwise than voluntarily, to be a member because of a reduction in the maximum number of officers or non-commissioned members authorized by the Governor in Council under subsection 15(4) of the National Defence Act, and

      • (i) they have reached 55 years of age and have to their credit not less than 10 years of pensionable service, or

      • (ii) they have to their credit not less than 20 years of pensionable service.

  • Marginal note:Commencement of immediate annuity

    (2) The commencement date of the annuity is the day following the last day on which the member is a participant.

Marginal note:Deferred annuity

  •  (1) A member who ceases to be a participant and has to their credit not less than two years of pensionable service and is not entitled to an immediate annuity is entitled to a deferred annuity.

  • Marginal note:Commencement of deferred annuity

    (2) The commencement date of the annuity is the day on which the pensioner reaches 60 years of age.

Marginal note:Annual allowance

  •  (1) A pensioner who is entitled to a deferred annuity may opt for an annual allowance in place of the annuity.

  • Marginal note:Commencement of annual allowance

    (2) The commencement date of the annual allowance is the date of the option, if the pensioner is 50 or more years of age at that time, or the day on which the pensioner reaches 50 years of age, if the pensioner is less than 50 years of age on the date of the option.

Marginal note:Amount of annual allowance

  •  (1) The amount of the annual allowance is the amount determined by the formula

    A – (A × 5% × B)

    where

    A
    is the amount of the deferred annuity; and
    B
    is 60 minus the pensioner’s age in years, rounded to the nearest 1/10 of a year, at the time the allowance commences.
  • Marginal note:Amount of annual allowance, at least 25 years of pensionable service

    (2) If a pensioner is 50 years or more of age on the day on which they cease to be a participant and has to their credit not less than 25 years of pensionable service, the amount of the annual allowance is the greater of

    • (a) the amount determined by the formula set out in subsection (1), and

    • (b) an amount determined by the same formula but where B is the greater of

      • (i) 55 minus the pensioner’s age in years, rounded to the nearest 1/10 of a year, at the time the pensioner makes the option, and

      • (ii) 30 minus the number of years, rounded to the nearest 1/10 of a year, of pensionable service to the pensioner’s credit.

Marginal note:Bridge benefit

  •  (1) A pensioner is also entitled to a bridge benefit.

  • Marginal note:Commencement of bridge benefit

    (2) The commencement date of the bridge benefit is the same date as that of the annuity or annual allowance.

Marginal note:Interpretation

  •  (1) For the purpose of subsection (2),

    • (a) the bridge benefit earnings for a calendar year are the lesser of

      • (i) the participant’s pensionable earnings for that year, and

      • (ii) the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings for that year, within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Canada Pension Plan; and

    • (b) the updated bridge benefit earnings for a calendar year are the lesser of

      • (i) the participant’s updated pensionable earnings for that year, and

      • (ii) the average of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings for five years consisting of the year the member most recently ceased to be a participant and the preceding four years.

  • Marginal note:Amount of bridge benefit

    (2) The annual amount of the bridge benefit is equal to 0.5 per cent of the greater of the pensioner’s total bridge benefit earnings and total updated bridge benefit earnings.

  • Marginal note:Reduction

    (3) If a pensioner opts for an annual allowance, the amount of the bridge benefit shall be the amount determined by the formula

    A × B/C

    where

    A
    is the amount calculated under subsection (2);
    B
    is the amount of the annual allowance; and
    C
    is the amount of the deferred annuity to which the pensioner was entitled.

Marginal note:Cessation of benefits on again becoming a participant

 A pensioner ceases to be entitled to an annuity or annual allowance on the day before the day on which they again become a participant.

Marginal note:Conversion to immediate annuity on disability

  •  (1) If a pensioner, not having reached 60 years of age but having become entitled under these Regulations to a deferred annuity or annual allowance, becomes entitled to a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan, the pensioner ceases to be entitled to the deferred annuity or annual allowance and becomes entitled to an immediate annuity, but shall not be entitled to a bridge benefit.

  • Marginal note:Commencement of annuity

    (2) The commencement date of the annuity is the day on which the pensioner becomes entitled to the disability pension.

  • Marginal note:Benefit when entitlement to disability pension ceases

    (3) If a pensioner, not having reached 60 years of age, has ceased to be entitled to the disability pension, the pensioner ceases to be entitled to the immediate annuity and becomes entitled to the deferred annuity or annual allowance and the bridge benefit to which the pensioner was previously entitled.

Marginal note:Deduction calculation

  •  (1) In the event that a pensioner ceases to be entitled to an annual allowance under section 49 or subsection 50(1), an amount, subject to subsections (2) and (3), determined by the following formula shall be deducted from any annuity or annual allowance payments that the pensioner receives on again ceasing to be a participant or on becoming entitled to an annuity under subsection 50(1):

    A/12 × B

    where

    A
    is five per cent of the sum of the annual allowance and the bridge benefit that the pensioner was receiving before again becoming a participant or before becoming entitled to a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan; and
    B
    is the lesser of
    • (a) the number of years, rounded to the nearest 1/10 of a year, during which the pensioner received the annual allowance; and

    • (b) the value determined for B of either subsection 46(1) or paragraph 46(2)(b), which value was used in determining the amount of the annual allowance.

  • Marginal note:Minimum amount

    (2) The deduction from the amount of those payments shall not result in the pensioner receiving less than the payments that the pensioner was receiving — before the pensioner again became a participant or the pensioner became entitled to the disability pension — minus the amount of the bridge benefit, if the pensioner is no longer entitled to it.

  • Marginal note:Limit

    (3) The total of the amounts to be deducted shall not exceed the total amount that was received as an annual allowance and a bridge benefit by the pensioner before the pensioner again became a participant or the pensioner became entitled to the disability pension.

Marginal note:Terms of payment

  •  (1) The annuity, annual allowance and bridge benefit shall be paid in equal monthly payments in arrears,

    • (a) in respect of the annuity or annual allowance, until the end of the month during which the pensioner dies; and

    • (b) in respect of the bridge benefit, until the earliest of the following:

      • (i) the day preceding the day on which the pensioner becomes entitled to a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan,

      • (ii) the last day of the month in which the pensioner reaches 65 years of age, and

      • (iii) the day that the annuity or annual allowance ceases to be paid.

  • Marginal note:Arrears

    (2) Any amount in arrears after the pensioner’s death shall be paid to the survivor who is entitled to an annual allowance under Division 2. If there is no survivor, it shall be paid to the pensioner’s estate or succession.

  • Marginal note:Apportionment if two survivors

    (3) If there are two survivors who are entitled to an annual allowance under Division 2, each survivor’s portion shall be determined in accordance with section 64 as if the reference to “death benefit” in that section were a reference to “amount in arrears”.

  • SOR/2016-64, s. 69
Transfer Value

Marginal note:Eligibility

 A pensioner who is entitled to a deferred annuity and has not reached 50 years of age may opt for the payment of a transfer value, and the making of the option extinguishes the entitlement to the deferred annuity.

Marginal note:Time limit for opting

 A pensioner shall make an option for the payment of a transfer value no later than one year after the day on which they cease to be a participant.

Marginal note:Option not made

 The option is deemed not to have been made if, before the transfer value has been paid, the former participant again is entitled to receive earnings as a member or is required to contribute to the Canadian Forces Pension Fund.

 

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