Joining the Public Service Pension Plan

Who can participate in the pension plan?

Employees working on a full-time or part-time basis (minimum 12 hours per week) contribute to the plan depending on the term of their appointment:

If you are an employee appointed for an indeterminate period or hired for a period of more than six months, you start contributing to the plan from the beginning of your employment;
If you are hired for a term of six months or less, you will begin to contribute to the plan after completing six months of continuous employment.

Contributions

What are the main features of the Public Service Pension Plan?

Defined benefit plan: Pensions are based on the number of years of pensionable service and the average salary for the five consecutive years of highest paid service. They are not based on the yield on investments. For more information, use the Calculator to estimate your future pension benefits.
Various benefits: The benefits available to plan members are summarized in the information sheet, Public Service Pension Plan at a Glance and Considering the benefits available.
Opportunity to increase pension benefits: To benefit further from the pension plan, members can generally transfer accrued pension credits in another pension plan or purchase periods of past service. For further information, click on Increasing Your Pension.
Survivor benefit: Survivors and eligible children are entitled to certain benefits that are summarised in Protecting Your Survivors.
Protection against inflation: Pensions to plan members and their survivors are indexed to protect their purchasing power. This means that benefits are adjusted to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. Click on Indexing (Inflation Protection).
Integration with the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) / Québec Pension Plan (QPP): Both contributions and benefits are integrated. For more information, click on Understanding the Integration of your Pension Plan with the CPP/QPP.

Pensions