Plan change details

Learn how certain plan changes affect you

Changes and rule of 85

You will be eligible for the rule of 85 for pensionable service earned before April 1, 2018. Under the old rules, if your age plus years of contributory service equals at least 85, you qualify for an unreduced pension; this is known as the rule of 85. Under the new rules, the rule of 85 will still be based on your total contributory service (pre- and post-April 1, 2018), but it will only apply to the pension you earn before April 1, 2018. It will not apply to any pension you earn after April 1, 2018.

In this example, the member is retiring at age 58 on April 1, 2020. The rule of 85 is used to calculate the pension reduction factor for the 25 years of service they earned prior to April 1, 2018. The rule of 85 takes all contributory service until retirement into account—even those years accumulated after April 1, 2018. Because the member meets the rule of 85, there is no reduction applied to the portion of their pension earned prior to April 1, 2018.

For the 2 years of contributory service earned after April 1, 2018, the new reduction factor is used. The member is not eligible for an unreduced pension for these years of service, because they do not meet the minimum age of 60, or have 35 years of contributory service. This means the portion of the member’s pension earned on or after April 1, 2018, will have a 12.4 per cent reduction applied.