OPTrust has been notified that both the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Government of Ontario have agreed in principle to extend the OPSEU Pension Plan’s Factor 80 early retirement window.

The current Factor 80 provision expires on March 31, 2002.

Before the extension of Factor 80 can come into effect, both plan sponsors – OPSEU and the Government of Ontario – must approve an amendment to the OPSEU Pension Plan. The amendment must then be filed with the Financial Securities Commission of Ontario.

Factor 80 is a time-limited option that allows qualifying members to retire early with an unreduced pension from OPTrust.

Under the current plan provisions, to qualify for Factor 80, a member’s age plus years of credit in the Plan must total exactly 80 on or before March 31, 2002. Qualifying members must also meet strict deadlines for submitting their notice to the employer and for retiring and starting to collect a pension. Information provided to OPTrust by the sponsors to date indicates that the same provisions would apply to any extension of the Factor 80 option.

Once a plan amendment extending Factor 80 comes into effect, we will send a letter to all members whose OPTrust records indicate that they may qualify for Factor 80 before any new deadline.

Until a plan amendment is signed by the sponsors, OPTrust staff will not be able to:

• confirm members’ eligibility for any extended Factor 80 provision, or
• provide pension estimates or retirement calculations based on an extension of the Factor 80 option.

As more information on the extension of OPTrust’s Factor 80 option becomes available, we will post the details on this site.