Pensioner Information Change Statement – a snapshot of your pension

Wondering how your OPTrust pension has grown in retirement? Want to see your monthly pension payment amount? Your Pensioner Information Change Statement (PICS) is a good place to start.  

Your PICS is a great tool to give you a snapshot of your OPTrust pension regardless of when you retired. It provides valuable information about your benefit including your:

• total monthly gross and net pension payment amounts*
• pension growth since retirement*
• total pension paid to date
• monthly insured benefit premium rates, if applicable
• tax deductions
• maximum quarterly re-employment earnings.

Each January, we mail you a PICS showing the annual cost-of-living increase in your pension. We also send a statement if there is any other change to your pension (e.g. changes to benefit premiums or income tax rates).

Check your monthly PICS online
Retirees with an Online Services account can check their statements each month. When you sign-in or register for secure Online Services you have access to your monthly statement at your convenience.

To view your online PICS every month, simply sign in to your secure Online Services account and click on the link Your Pension Statements.
*Due to the conversion of our pension payroll system in 2002 the information for these sections is only available for pensioners who retired after January 2002.

Special Section: 2008 Annual Highlights inside
Want to know how your pension plan responded to the difficult challenges in 2008? Interested in the approach OPTrust takes to build the long-term security of your pension? Looking for the latest on the Plan’s funding status?

Just turn to the special pullout section inside this newsletter to read the 2008 Annual Highlights Report to OPTrust Pensioners. There you’ll find key statistics on the financial performance of the OPSEU Pension Plan and news on how we serve you and our 82,000 other retirees and active members.

< Ron Goss is one of the OPTrust retirees profiled in our annual highlights report.

Get the big picture
OPTrust’s full annual report is available online.

A list of OPTrust’s significant investment is also available. To order a printed copy of the annual report, please contact us.

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New Proxy Voting Guidelines online Ever wondered how OPTrust votes its shares in the companies we invest in? Want to know our voting standards on issues such as climate change or executive compensation? Our new Proxy Voting Guidelines answers these and other questions. As part of our efforts to promote good corporate governance, OPTrust actively exercises our voting rights as a shareholder in over 1,000 companies around the world. In order to meet the pension promise to our members and retirees, OPTrust prefers to invest in well governed companies with strong management structures and practices in place. The Plan’s shares are voted according to our detailed Proxy Voting Guidelines. “OPTrust is committed to responsible investing, and voting our proxies is key to this strategy. Not only does it help ensure strong, long-term investment performance but it helps align our investments with the interests of our membership,” said Katharine Preston, Manager for OPTrust’s Proxy Voting and Environmental, Social and Governance program. OPTrust updated the guidelines in February 2009 and they address key governance issues such as the nature of boards of directors, compensation of executives, protection from takeovers, labour rights, and shareholder rights. They also address a range of social and environmental concerns. To learn more about OPTrust’s approach to proxy voting download the guidelines. If you have any questions or comments about the guidelines or for information on a specific vote, please contact OPTrust at proxyvotes@optrust.com.

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Plan sponsors appoint new Trustees

OPSEU named Maureen Whyte to the OPTrust Board of Trustees in January 2009.

An activist and OPSEU member since 2003, Whyte is the vice-president of OPSEU Local 333 in Oshawa.  She has also served as union steward and local secretary.

Whyte started her career with the Ontario Public Service (OPS) over two decades ago before working for several years as a financial planner in the banking sector.  She returned to the OPS in 2003 and now works as a Claims Assessor within the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Whyte teaches part-time at Durham College in Oshawa.

She replaces OPSEU Trustee Ruth Galinis who served on the Board for three years and ended her term in December 2008.



The Government of Ontario appointed Scott Campbell to the OPTrust Board of Trustees in April 2009.

With a career spanning 30 years in the Ontario Public Service (OPS), Campbell was the first Corporate Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Government of Ontario – a position he held until he retired in 2001.

“It is a privilege to be a part of the OPTrust Board. I look forward to working with my fellow Trustees, OPTrust management and staff to ensure that the short and long term needs of the members and pensioners are met,” said Scott.

Over the last eight years, he has worked as the CIO with the Government of British Columbia, Ontario’s first Chief e-Health Strategist, the Interim CIO for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and Interim CIO of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.

Campbell runs his own information technology and provides strategic to change large complex organizations.

He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trillium Health Centre, a Toronto area hospital. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of CIO Government Review and the TELUS Toronto Community Board.

In May, OPSEU appointed Jim Petersen to the Board of Trustees.

Petersen was born in the United States and moved to Canada in 1968. He obtained a Ph.D. in History of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. Petersen taught at the University of Winnipeg, and worked for the Manitoba Department of Colleges and Universities in Flin Flon.

Petersen later moved to Hamilton, Ontario where he worked as a Systems Officer in the Ministry of Education. As an OPSEU member, Petersen was actively involved in the union.

“The recent economic crisis has convinced me that pensioners should take a very active interest in how their pensions are being run,” says Petersen who retired in 2000.

He replaces David Rapaport who served two separate terms on the Board from 2001 to 2004 and 2008 to 2009.

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The Pension Connection gets a makeover

If you think The Pension Connection newsletter looks fresh and different, you are right! After eight years, we are pleased to present you with a new design. In focus groups held in late 2008, retirees and members provided feedback that helped reshape the look of your newsletter.   

You will also notice that we’ve incorporated your 2008 Annual Highlights Report to OPTrust Pensioners into this issue (see the special section to read more). That’s because retirees and members said they wanted to receive the Plan’s financial highlights and newsletter content in one package.

Your new insured benefits premium rates
OPTrust retirees who are eligible for insured benefits may have noticed a small increase in their monthly premium rates in April.  

Effective April 1, 2009, insured benefit premium rates for vision care and hearing aid coverage increased. The new rates are shown on your April 2009 Pensioner Information Change Statement.  

Who qualifies for coverage?
You, your eligible spouse and your eligible dependent children qualify for insured benefits, if you are receiving a pension based on at least 10 years of:

• credit in the OPSEU Pension Plan or the Public Service Pension Plan, or
• continuous employment and have some credit in the OPSEU Pension Plan for at least some part of each of those 10 years.

Your eligibility for coverage is based on service and credit in the OPSEU Pension Plan while you were an active member, but your insured benefits are provided separately by the Government of Ontario and administered by Great-West Life. 

Insured benefits coverage
If you are eligible for insured benefits at retirement, your coverage includes dental, supplementary health and hospital, and basic life insurance. The Government Ontario pays the premiums for these benefits. For vision care and hearing aid coverage, retirees pay a small premium (see chart above).

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Your insured benefits improvements

OPSEU and the Government of Ontario have ratified a new collective agreement for active Ontario Public Service employees. The negotiated agreement includes a number of improvements to insured benefits coverage for eligible OPTrust retirees.

If you qualify for insured benefits in retirement, you can expect the following improvements to your coverage:

• The dental plan deductible was reduced to $50 from $100 for single or family coverage per calendar year. If you submitted a dental claim to Great-West Life for services after January 1, 2009, you will receive a $50 reimbursement. You do not need to re-submit your claims.

Effective April 1, 2009

• Coverage includes 100% of the cost of one routine eye exam every 24 months over and above the $340 maximum payable under the vision care plan. Your 24-month claim period starts after the first submission of an eye exam after April 1, 2009 and will be separate from your 24-month vision care claim period for glasses, contact lenses, corrective laser eye surgery.

• Additional drug coverage: vaccinations or immunizations prescribed by a physician and administered by a qualified health care practitioner will be reimbursed at 90% if they are not covered by a provincial health plan (e.g. OHIP).
• The dental plan will cover pit and fissure sealants for retirees’ dependent children aged 6 to 18 years.

Effective January 1, 2010*

• The dental plan will pay 50% of eligible major dental services and the maximum benefit will increase from $1,200 to $2,000 per year for you and your eligible dependants. 
• The Government of Ontario will pay 100% of premiums for vision care and hearing aid plan coverage.

*The Government of Ontario will provide additional information on these improvements in fall 2009, which will be included in a future issue of The Pension Connection.  

Your insured benefits coverage is provided by the Government of Ontario and administered by Great-West Life. For more information, please contact Great-West Life at 1-800-874-5899 or www.greatwestlife.com.

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Parlez-vous français?

La FRRS offre à ses retraités francophones la version française imprimée et électronique du bulletinThe Pension Connection (La filière des pensions). Si vous préférez recevoir votre bulletin de la FRRS en français, envoyez-nous un courriel à communications@optrust.com ou contactez nos Services aux participants et aux pensionnés au 416-681-6100 ou au 1-800-637-0024 (sans frais au Canada).

Pour la première fois, nous avons traduit nos faits saillants financiers annuels en français pour vous donner un aperçu détaillé du rendement de votre régime de pension en 2008. Si vous vous inscrivez à la version française de votre bulletin, vous recevrez aussi le Rapport annuel sur les faits saillants de 2008 présenté aux pensionnés de la FRRS¸ qui est compris dans ce numéro (voir l’encart spécial).

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Since leaving a 29-year career in administrative services at the Ministry of Safety and Correctional Services, Jennifer Black has spent her retirement “clowning” around with children. That’s because she runs a children’s development theatre company in Goderich, Ontario working with young kids, some with special needs.

Retired for five years, Jennifer has turned her passion for theatre and love for children into a program designed to boost their imagination through creative activities such as pantomime, improvisation and drama. She has been involved in community theatre throughout her life, but with a steady source of retirement income, she now volunteers full-time. 

“Children are truly an inspiration to me. They keep me young and make me laugh. My program gives children who are not interested in sports or have health problems a creative alternative.” Many of the children in Jennifer’s program have since appeared in theatre productions and attended professional drama schools.

“My OPTrust pension is important to me. I’m happy that I worked long enough to earn a secure pension that I can count on in retirement.”

She also serves on the board of a local senior citizens’ centre where the proceeds from the theatre group productions are donated. Jennifer, who was born in England, has just started research for a children’s book she plans to write about children who grew up in Europe during World War II.

Do you have a retirement story to share? Want to share your tips for an active retirement with other pensioners? Contact OPTrust at communications@optrust.com and let us know what you’re doing in retirement. We may feature you in a future issue of Pension Connection.

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Did you know?

Like many retirees, you are likely eligible for Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) government benefits either now or in the future. You can start to receive CPP benefits as early as age 60. However, your CPP benefits are reduced by 6% for every year you are under age 65 when you start to receive CPP. Old Age Security pension benefits start at age 65. The following chart shows the 2009 rates for each benefit.

The OAS rates are reviewed in January, April, July and October to reflect increases in the cost-of-living as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The figures listed here are for April - June 2009.

For more information or to apply for your government benefits, visit the Service Canada website at www.servicecanada.gc.ca or contact by phone at 1 800 277-9914.

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Volunteer opportunities

Like many OPTrust retirees, you probably have more free time to take up a new hobby, work part-time or volunteer in your community.

So, if you are looking for opportunities or resources in your community, check out www.seniorsinfo.ca, a Government of Canada website specifically designed for retirees.  You can learn about volunteer opportunities across Canada along with other important retirement information such as health and wellness, community services and more.

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Marriage breakdown rules set to change

The Government of Ontario is proposing new legislation to clarify how and when pensions are divided when a marriage breaks down. The changes are designed to reduce some of the strain of family court proceedings by saving court time and the cost of hiring experts.

The proposed legislation would allow for a simple way for separating couples to find out the value of the pension benefits to which they are entitled and allows pension plans to pay out the non-member spouse's share.¹

The proposed changes follow the general direction of advice provided by the Law Commission of Ontario. The Commission consulted widely with pension plan administrators on the best ways to divide pensions when marriages break down.

OPTrust plans to update its fact sheet on this topic in the near future. Until then, if you are involved in a marriage breakdown and you need information please contact us.

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Moving? Keep us in the loop

If you are planning to move soon, don’t forget to give OPTrust your new mailing address, phone number and banking information. That way we can continue to send you important information about your OPTrust pension.

You can update your home mailing address by: