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Annual member statements for the 2021 plan year will be issued to active, deferred and retired members of the Pension Plan at the end of June 2022.

Remember that, if you have a spouse, they would automatically receive any pre-retirement death benefit as per pension legislation. However, you should also designate a beneficiary in case your spouse pre-deceases you.

If you need to declare a spouse, or designate a beneficiary, please scan the QR code to fill out the secure form that will be submitted directly to the Benefits Centre. For security purposes, once you enter your name and email address, a verification code will be emailed to you. In order to proceed to the form, you will have to enter that code when prompted. If you have not received your statement and are paid through ADP, please contact them directly to ensure the address on file is correct.

If you have not begun receiving your pension, the statement will contain a box that looks something like this:

THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE EARNED ALREADY - is calculated based on your pensionable earnings and years of credited service.

YOUR PROJECTED ANNUAL PENSION TO AGE 65 – is an estimate based on the assumption that you continue to work in the same job category until you reach age 65.  If you stop working before that, or if your pensionable earnings change, this amount will also change.

MAXIMUM C/QPP BENEFITS – The amount shown as an example on your pension statement is the maximum amount payable under the Canada Pension Plan.  Not all Canadians receive the maximum possible payout from the Canada Pension Plan.  Please note that the average annual amount of CPP paid to new recipients in 2022 was $8,433.

In order to determine your personal benefit under the Canada Pension Plan, you can request a Personal Access Code (PAC)  You can use this code to register for My Service Canada Account, which will provide access to your personal record of contributions and benefits earned under the Canada Pension Plan.

MAXIMUM OAS BENEFITS – Old Age Security is a pension you can receive if you are 65 years of age or older and have lived in Canada for at least 10 years.

When planning for retirement, all of these sources of income, as well as your personal savings and any pension from previous employers should be considered. We recommend that you consult with a financial planner to help with the financial aspects of your retirement planning.

The first letter from the Benefits Centre informing pensioners about the change to the processing of pension payments - from RBC Investor and Treasury Services to LifeWorks.

The second mailing in June was divided into three letters depending on where you are currently residing:

• Canadian resident
• Overseas resident with overseas payments
• Overseas resident with Canadian payment

The second communication from the Benefits Centre was mailed the week of June 15, with more information on T4As for the 2022 year, and about the Web portal - which will be available to all in October 2023 but will be optional. Just a reminder, there is nothing for you, as a pensioner, to do on your end.

Three versions of the letter were mailed - depending on your current location - and they are all posted on the Retirement page, under Communications. If you have not received this communication by the end of the month, please e-mail pension@united-church.ca or phone the Benefits Centre at 1-855-647-8222 to ensure they have the correct address on file.

An initial communication from the Benefits Centre was mailed the week of May 23, informing pensioners of the upcoming change to how pension payments are processed. One important thing to note is that there is nothing for you, as a pensioner, to do on your end. More information about the change will be mailed in June providing contact details.

A copy of the letter is posted on the Retirement page, under Communications. If you have not received this communication by the end of the month, please e-mail pension@united-church.ca or phone the Benefits Centre at 1-855-647-8222 to ensure they have the correct address on file.

Derek Hurst, Pension Fund Manager, was interviewed by Benefits Canada about The United Church of Canada Pension Plan.

“Our governance structure is quite robust. I report to an 11-person investment committee which reports to a 11-person pension board,” says Hurst, who’s been overseeing the decisions of the $1.6 billion defined benefit plan since 2015. “Additionally, there’s an advisory committee with eight volunteers. The calibre of these volunteers is very high — it’s incredible to me that we get people so interested in helping the plan.”

Read the full article by Gideon Scanlon here.

At its meeting on April 30, 2022, the Executive of the General Council approved the appointment of Anne Soh, FSA, FCIA as the next chair of the Pension Board. Anne served on the Pension Plan Advisory Committee since 2011, assuming the chair from November 2013 to December 2020. Anne was then appointed to the Pension Board.

Anne Soh is Vice President and Plan Actuary at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). An executive with over 30 years of experience in the pension and benefits industry, Anne advises the OMERS boards of directors on plan funding and sustainability matters, and oversees the in-house actuarial department. Anne also serves on the Board of Directors and the Finance and Audit Committee of Canada’s National Ballet School. Anne is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and has an Hons. Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Western Ontario. She is also a graduate of the ICD – Rotman Director Education Program.

Anne’s term as Pension Board chair will begin after the June 2022 meeting of the Board where Marcus Robertson, FSA, FCIA will complete his third and final term as chair. The General Council Executive wishes to thank Marcus for his nine years of diligent leadership.

Constellation Software Shareholder Proposal Approved

(Toronto) The Pension Plan of The United Church of Canada filed a shareholder proposal with Constellation Software urging the company to improve their DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) practices.  The proposal requested the preparation of a report on the company’s plans to identify, address, mitigate, and dismantle racial disparities within its workforce.  Despite the Board of Constellation Software recommending that shareholders vote against the resolution, shareholders approved it!

The United Church of Canada Pension Plan is very proud of this outcome.  In concert with SHARE, we will follow up with the company in the coming months to ensure it issues a report and to review its content and goals.  Marcus Robertson, Chair of the Pension Board commented, “This is great news, and demonstrates the effectiveness of ongoing engagement on diversity and inclusion issues with invested companies.”

SHARE commented, “We are pleased that a majority of Constellation Software Inc. shareholders have voted to adopt our shareholder proposal, filed on behalf of The United Church of Canada Pension Plan to undertake a thorough review of racial equity at the company and report publicly to investors on findings. This is a crucial step for the company, which has previously taken very limited measures to address diversity, equity and inclusion. The majority vote from shareholders sends a strong signal to Canadian issuers about the growing expectations of institutional investors on racial equity. The company announced that the proposal had passed during the AGM.”

For information, Constellation Software is a leading provider of software and services to a select group of public and private sector markets. They acquire, manage and build industry specific software businesses which provide specialized, mission-critical software solution.  The Pension Plan’s current investment in the company is $2 million, and market value of the company is approximately $42 billion.

SHARE's full press release can be found here.

After a year-long hiatus, Connex is back! This version will pick up where the print version left off and will only be available online. Going forward, Connex will focus mainly on pension, benefits, and payroll news.

If you were previously receiving an email about Connex and didn’t see it in your inbox, check your spam folder! If it’s still not there and you would like to receive Connex, please sign up for the latest news and updates on the Newsroom page by filling out the form below.

Good news! As announced in a recent letter from Pension Board Chair, Marcus Robertson, pension plan members will receive a pension increase effective January 1, 2022.

Pensioners and Deferred Members
Current pensioners and deferred members will receive a 4 percent* increase to their pension amount effective January 1, 2022.

* The Income Tax Act and regulations limit pension increases to the cumulative growth in Consumer Price Index since the pension commenced. For this reason, recently retired pensioners and deferred members who terminated employment recently will see a lesser increase.

Active Members
For active members, the accrual rate will increase to 1.85 percent in 2022 from the base rate of 1.4 percent. In 2023 the accrual rate is scheduled to return to 1.4 percent.

What Does “Accrual Rate” Mean?
The accrual rate is the rate at which you earn your pension. In 2019, you earn your pension at the rate of 1.4 percent of your pensionable earnings.

How Does This Work?
You earn a piece of pension every year that you work and contribute to the plan—like building blocks.

For example, let’s assume that a member’s pensionable earnings stayed constant at $60,000 every year, (for easy figuring). From 2019 to 2023, that member would earn

At the end of your career, the annual pension amounts earned each year will add up to the total annual pension you will receive every year for the rest of your life. So, the higher amount earned in 2022 will continue to benefit you for the rest of your retired life.

What about Future Increases?
There will be no automatic indexing or increase going forward. The Pension Board and Pension Plan Advisory Committee annually assess the resources available and determine whether there are surplus funds that can be used to increase benefits.

Are you looking to augment the Active member health and dental plan? Here are a few things to consider:

The United Church plan, the United Church rates

• Our plan’s premium is 100% employer paid. Your employer pays 7.77% of your pensionable earnings for the Active benefits plan, of which 5.96% is for health and dental coverage. These rates change annually and will be posted on the Pension and Benefits deductions page mid-December.
• You do not have to complete medical or health questionnaires to enroll in our benefits plan.
• We pay for expert advice to design and manage a plan for our members.
• We do not pay commissions on insurance or services we purchase for the plan – this may not be true of third parties selling individual plans, including affinity groups.
• The rates we charge reflect the anticipated costs of running the plans and there is no profit margin.

Other plans

• Will include a profit margin and possibly commission.
• Will not integrate with our plan. They will be designed to provide coverage where there is no employer sponsored coverage, and will essentially, in many cases, simply duplicate our plan’s coverage, not augment it.
  • For instance, our insurer (Green Shield Canada) can offer such individual supplemental plans but our analysis found them to represent poor value for money.
• Some options offered in the market or by affinity groups are actually ‘conversion plans’ and are only available to people who lost coverage under their employer sponsored plan. Members who were previously enrolled in the “Optional Health & Dental Plan” did not lose health and dental coverage – access to the additional coverage afforded by the Optional plan was lost.

Can I opt-out of the United Church Health & Dental Plan?

• Our plan does not allow waiver of coverage unless you have another privately sponsored plan from other employment or a spouse. (Please note, it does not save any premiums because core benefits are assessed as one benefit, fully paid by the employer.) Full participation is an integral part of the Active plan.
• We offer a broad plan to provide benefits to our members that are affordable to employers while still protecting members against catastrophic hardship.
• The Active plan is largely employer paid and includes a number of valuable benefits:
  • Employer Paid
    • Health and Dental Coverage
    • Life insurance
    • Dependent Life Insurance
    • Accidental Death & Dismemberment
    • Employee and Family Assistance Plan
    • Restorative Care Plan
  • Employee Paid
    • Long Term Disability Plan (employee paid is the common practice, allowing any benefits collected to be tax free)

A letter from the General Secretary, Michael Blair, was sent to all retirees on November 22, 2021 that outlined recent discussions and decisions about benefits for retirees of the United Church. You can review the General Secretary's letter here.

If you are a retired member of the United Church and did not receive this communication by email or Canada Post, please contact UCCBenefitsNews@united-church.ca to provide your current information so we can update our records.