It’s your pension: take time to read about it
About the OPSEU Pension Trust
The OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) exists to administer the pension plan benefits of the OPSEU Pension Plan.
We are subject to the rules and regulations governing pension plans in Ontario and Canada. As the pension plan administrator, our role is to prudently manage the assets supporting the pension plan and administer the entitlements and benefits provided by the Plan.
The OPSEU Pension Plan has approximately 46,000 active members from bargaining units in the Ontario Public Service and certain agencies, boards, commissions and foundations, and 22,000 current pensioners. In addition, the Plan has 8,700 deferred pensioners.
Joint governance
The OPSEU Pension Trust was created to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the sponsorship of the OPSEU Pension Plan. As plan sponsors, the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) each appoint five trustees to OPTrust’s Board of Trustees. The Board is responsible for the investment of the Plan’s funds and the administration of the Plan. OPTrust began operations in 1995, and is a separate organization at arm’s length from both sponsors.
Risk and reward sharing
Every three years all registered pension plans must undertake an actuarial funding valuation to assess whether the required funds will be available to pay expected future pensions. During this valuation, gains and losses are examined based on actuarial assumptions and actual experience in the pension plan.
In the OPSEU Pension Plan, gains are shared equally – 50% to members and 50% to the Government of Ontario. The members’ share can be used to stabilize or reduce member contributions or to fund improved benefits, at the choice of OPSEU. The Government of Ontario may use its gains to reduce contributions, to fund improved benefits or create a fund to stabilize its contributions. If there are losses in the Plan, these are also shared equally, between members and employers, by increasing contributions.