Pension Matters » CPP

“What is Pension Governments?”

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:56:20 +0000

Gord Lewis, Vice President, takes a look back at the evolution of pension governance over the past 20 years in this article from the December 2011 edition of Benefit and Pensions Monitor.

Retirement Plan Administration Updates for 2010

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:32:06 +0000

The 2010 limit for tax-deferred contributions to a registered pension plan is $22,450, which is equivalent to an income of $124,722.22. Persons below this limit will continue to be restricted to 18% of earnings.

Click here for a table showing the 2010 limits for various retirement plan types.

Click here for the 2010 limits for the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans and Old Age Security.

Sponsors of retirement plans will have to update their administration practices to accommodate these new limits.

Changes to Canada Pension Plan CPP

Ryan Kuruliak — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:14:58 +0000

Summary of changes

The Federal Finance Minster Jim Flaherty announced, after meetings with his provincial counterparts, proposals to make some changes to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP). The changes are designed to increase the flexibility of the CPP and to adjust the rates for early and postponed retirement:

- Allow individuals to draw on CPP benefits early and continue working and contributing to the CPP (along with the required CPP contributions from their employer). This implies the removal of the current Work Cessation Test.

- Individuals who are 65 and older that draw on CPP, but continue to work can continue to make contributions to the CPP (along with the required CPP contributions from their employer).

- Early retirement reductions will change from 0.5% per month to 0.6% per month (phased in over 5 years, commencing in 2012).

- Individuals who wait until age 70 to commence CPP benefits would see their benefits boosted by up to 42% (from 5% per month to 7% per month), compared to the current maximum increase of 30% (phased in over 3 years, commencing in 2011).

- Increase the amount of low / no earnings years that can be dropped off of the career average earnings used to determine benefit payout (from the current 15% to 16% in 2012 and 17% in 2014).

These changes will need to be approved by both the Federal Parliament and the Provinces that belong to the CPP. Stay tuned, as we will keep you posted on the progress of the proposed changes.