Transfers from and to the OPSEU Pension Plan
TRANSFERS FROM OTHER PENSION PLANS
The OPSEU Pension Plan has transfer agreements with many of the Canadian public and broader public sector pension plans. If you are joining the OPSEU Pension Plan and wish to transfer pension service, please notify OPTrust immediately. There are deadlines for transferring your service and we can inform you of the terms and any costs that may be involved. Please see the fact sheet Transferring your pension to OPTrust or contact OPTrust for a current list.
TRANSFERS TO OTHER PENSION PLANS
If you are resigning from your current employment and taking a new job with an employer that is not part of the OPSEU Pension Plan, and your new employer contributes to any of the plans listed on our website, you may be able to transfer your OPTrust pension service to your new employer’s plan. If you want to transfer, please notify OPTrust and your new employer’s pension plan immediately as there are specific deadlines for applying. Once you submit an application, OPTrust and your new plan’s administrator will handle the paperwork. To learn about transfers into and out of the OPSEU Pension Plan, please see the fact sheets on Transferring Your Credit into/out of the OPSEU Pension Plan, or contact OPTrust.
Subject to certain limitations and provided you are under 55 years of age, you may also be able to move the commuted value of your pension to another pension plan, if the other plan will accept the transfer.
TRANSFERS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE PENSION PLAN (PSPP)
There are special transfer arrangements between OPTrust and the Ontario Pension Board (administrator of the PSPP).
If you stay with your employer (and there is no break in employment service):
If you are in a bargaining unit position and transfer permanently to a non-OPSEU or management position with your current employer, you are no longer eligible to be a member of the OPSEU Pension Plan. When this happens, your accrued pension service is automatically transferred to the Public Service Pension Plan. We will process the paperwork for the transfer after your employer notifies us of the change in your position.
If you move to a new employer who is part of the PSPP (and there is a break in employment service):
When you end your employment in an OPSEU bargaining unit position and start employment in a non-OPSEU or management position with an employer that participates in the PSPP, your accrued pension service is not automatically transferred to the PSPP. The transfer of pension service is optional. You must notify us of your change in employment and desire to transfer your pension service to your new plan.
Impact on your pension entitlement:
Both mandatory and optional transfers of service between the OPSEU Pension Plan and the PSPP may have an impact on your pension entitlement. The PSPP and the OPSEU Pension Plan have different rules and benefits and the value of your pension service is different under each plan. You will be provided with information about how the transfer affects your pension entitlement when we are notified of the change in your position or your election to transfer your service to an employer who contributes to the PSPP.