In this edition
What’s new at CAAT
Join us at the Pensions for Everyone Conference!
Registration is now open for the virtual Pensions for Everyone Conference, happening live on May 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT. The conference offers a unique opportunity for attendees to learn about CAAT’s annual performance update and participate in an educational breakout session with CAAT leaders, followed by a fireside chat with the Plan’s CEO and Plan Manager, Derek W. Dobson.
Join the virtual conference’s employer breakout session to learn:
- Why you can feel proud to offer a modern DB pension that helps improve retirement income security for more Canadians;
- How your pension partnership can help you solve your business challenges such as attracting top talent, boosting employee retention, and enhancing your company’s culture; and
- How CAAT is innovating to meet your unique business needs, what resources are available to you, and how you can connect with us to shape the future of the Plan
https://www.caatpension.ca/conference
CAAT’s Year in Review: The comfort of certainty
In 2023, members told us that their pension is having a positive impact on their well-being. As CAAT remains secure and continues to grow, employers like you can find comfort in knowing you've partnered with a pension plan that can help you recruit, retain and take care of your people.
Read our Year in Review for a peek into the Plan's performance and why pensions matter.
2023 valuation
CAAT is pleased to announce its strong funding position of 124% as of January 1, 2024, on a going-concern basis, with a funding reserve of $5.3 billion. CAAT remains in Level 5 of the Funding Policy.
Conditional benefits such as inflation protection increases have been granted through to 2026, with additional changes to both DBprime and DBplus approved by the Plan’s Governors starting on January 1, 2025.
- DBprime members will receive a decrease in their contribution rates while still building the same valuable pension.
- DBplus members will see an increase in the annual pension factor on their future contributions, allowing them to grow their pension more quickly with the same contribution rates.
The Plan saw significant growth over the last year, with 80 new employers and 11,000 new members, and closed the fiscal year with $20.1 billion in market value of assets. CAAT now supports over 400 participating employers and over 94,500 members, who can trust in the Plan’s long-term approach to managing its funding and securing members’ pensions for years to come.
Learn more by visiting the Valuation webpage on the CAAT website.
Employer resources: Understand the value of the Plan
Pensions can be complicated, and we want to make it easy for you and your employees to understand them. Highlight the value of the pension you offer to new hires and employees with the tools and resources available to you on CAAT’s Employer Resources page!
Our robust library of downloadable resources lets you help your employees learn about and actively engage with their DB pension. From onboarding new members to demonstrating the Plan’s value to employees, CAAT has you covered with resources such as:
- Onboarding materials
- Fact sheets
- Checklists
- Resources for part-time and contract employees
- Power of Your Pension templates
- Recruitment Toolkit
Visit the Employer Resources page today!
Annual statements: A valuable financial snapshot
We want to thank all employers who met their year-end data deadlines so that Annual Statements can be produced on time. Pension statements are a highly valuable financial document for members, providing them with an update on their how their pension is growing.
The CAAT team understands how important it is for members to receive their statements in a timely manner. Statement production is well underway, with the goal of sending out 90% of statements by May 31, 2024. The legislative deadline to deliver all statements is June 30, 2024.
This time of year is a fantastic opportunity to encourage members to read their statement and understand the value of their pension. As financial stresses continue to appear in news headlines, members can take comfort that they are building retirement income for their future by participating in the Plan. The amount shown in their statement under “Your lifetime pension earned to December 31, 2023” can help them track the growth of their pension throughout their membership.
If your employees have access to My Pension, we encourage them to activate their My Pension accounts as soon as possible to get their statements online. Members that have not activated their accounts or who do not have access to My Pension will receive their statement by mail to the address on file with CAAT.
Plan Ambassador Toolkit launch
We’re excited to share a new way to spread the #PensionsForEveryone message!
The new Plan Ambassador Toolkit was created with members and employers in mind. Within the Toolkit, you’ll find impactful resources, statistics and personal stories, all with one goal: to keep the conversation going that every Canadian deserves workplace access to a defined benefit pension.
Being a Plan Ambassador means being a part of the movement to create change for Canadians. We encourage you to share the toolkit with your employees and network and show how pensions are positively impacting you and your community today!
You can visit the Plan Ambassador webpage to learn more or to join the community.
Stay tuned for the Spring member learning series!
Want members to learn more about their pension? We’ll be kicking off our Spring learning series for all active members in the coming weeks.
These free presentations give your employees the opportunity to ask questions and learn about their CAAT pension. Our presentations include live demonstrations of our CAAT tools, and members can learn more about pension fundamentals, plan features, retirement planning, and so much more. They’re perfect for new members who want to know why the defined benefit pension you offer is a big deal, and for any member who wants to make sure they can retire with confidence.
Please encourage members to visit the CAAT website today to register by including links to sessions in your employee communications. We have lots of sessions available so they can sign up for the webinar that works best for them!
Register now
If you are an employer working with a CAAT administration partner, we highly encourage you to book a customized session for your members to help them understand how their prior plan and DBplus are administered together by CAAT.
Updates and reminders
Submit non-contributing member data by May 31
Read this if: you are an Ontario college employer
This is a reminder that any member who has not contributed to the Plan for a period of 12 months or more must be reported to the Plan as a terminated member. Please report any members who have not contributed since June 1, 2023.
If you have fewer than 25 non-contributing members, report them via PAL. If you have more than 25 non-contributing members, report them via this spreadsheet.
Don’t delay! Submit June 30 retirement applications today
Members often want to start their retirement in the summer months, which means CAAT receives many pension applications in June. We encourage you to submit your retirement applications for any June 30 retirements as soon as possible.
If a retiring member is interested in a pension purchase or wants to make a transfer into CAAT from another registered pension plan, let the member know they should take care of those changes as soon as possible. Completing these transactions at least two months before applying for the pension will help to ensure the pension is paid on time.
Contribution remittance deadline change
In case you missed it, we extended the contribution remittance deadline to give you more time. As of January 1, 2024, contributions can be remitted on a business day that is no more than 30 days following the end of month to which the contributions relate. The previous deadline was up to 20 calendar days after the month-end.
If the 30th day after the month-end falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, then the due date will be the nearest previous business day.
For a list of deadlines, see the Employer Manual, under Contribution remittance.
Your Q&A corner
Welcome to your Q&A corner, where we’ll answer your questions about CAAT. To help keep you informed, we aim to feature one or two employer questions in each issue. Contact your employer Pension Analyst to submit your questions.
Read this if: you are an employer with members in DBplus and you report data using Payroll Based Reporting (PBR)
Q: If our organization provides any retroactive pay to our DBplus members, how should it be recorded—in the year it was earned or the year it was paid?
A: Here is how to include retroactive pay in your payroll-based reporting (PBR) files:
- First, ensure the amount qualifies as pensionable earnings. If you are unsure about how to confirm this, contact your Pension Analyst.
- If the amount is pensionable, include the retroactive earnings in the year the amount is actually paid.*
- The pension adjustment (PA) for the year of payment should also reflect these additional earnings.
- If your contribution rates vary over time, calculate the contributions based on the contribution rates in effect at the time the retroactive payment was made.
* Since the DBplus pension formula uses the combined member and employer contributions, it is not important for retroactive earnings to be recorded in the year to which the earnings relate.
Please follow this process unless your Participation Agreement and/or MOA with the Plan indicates otherwise.
Portal corner
Read this if: you are an employer who works directly with CAAT and your members have access to My Pension
Retirement online: An easier way to kickstart retirement!
As part of our commitment to enhance our services, CAAT is making it easier for active members to complete the retirement process via My Pension after it has been initiated through their employer.
A new self-serve “Retire online” feature for members will launch in May 2024, giving members the ability to elect and manage their retirement options and related documents online through My Pension. A related new feature in PAL will allow employers to view and cancel the progress of a member’s retirement request.
Here’s how it will work:
- Active members will notify their HR departments to start the retirement process through regular channels.
- Employers will then submit the pension applications to CAAT through PAL.
- Both employers and members will be able to track and receive status updates on these applications online on the member and employer portals, keeping them informed and engaged throughout the process.
- Deferred members and those within the Extension of Membership period can start their retirement process directly in My Pension.
Retire online will make the retirement process easier for members and more transparent for employers. We recommend encouraging members to activate their My Pension accounts as soon as possible. More information will be shared in the coming weeks!
2024 planned outages for PAL
PAL will be unavailable for maintenance from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the following days:
- May 8
- June 5
- July 3
- July 31
- August 28
- September 25
- October 23
- November 20
- December 18
We want to hear from you
Have a question, comment or suggestion for us about PAL? Let us know.
Your feedback is important to us. Over the course of this year, we’re planning on adding more exciting features to improve PAL functionality.
PAL is an innovative platform that continues to expand and put information into a single, unified experience for you. Reach out to your Pension Analyst to share your thoughts at any time.
Upcoming events
Mark your calendar for these events. We send invitations straight to your inbox two weeks prior to the event and registration is available on our website.
Quarterly Employer Update—June 25 at 1 p.m.
This webinar will update you about plan news, upcoming events, reminders and more.
Watch your email for an invitation!
Employer education sessions (for employers working directly with CAAT)
- July 9: Eligibility and enrolment of plan members
- For employers with DBprime and DBplus—10 a.m.
- For employers with DBplus only—1 p.m.
This training session will review the enrolment requirements based on the provisions of the Plan and the enrolment process.
For recordings of previous sessions, please visit our Employer Education Guide.
Tune in to the latest episode of Contributors!
CAAT’s award-winning podcast
In the season 2 finale, join Russell Evans and Jade Towle as they walk through an inspirational season packed with wisdom from some of Canada’s most prominent business leaders. Learn how a triple bottom line approach can benefit your business, how to unlock untapped potential for your business through embracing feedback and what today’s leaders are doing to contribute to a better Canada.
Listen now
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Industry outlook: Gain insights from some of the industry’s forward thinkers
Take a closer look at the latest trends, research and insights across the industry. Share with your employees and network!
How to create an inclusive employee benefits program
There’s a positive relationship between diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and a company’s group benefits plan, and not intentionally incorporating it could lead to employee turnover, according to a report. To do this successfully, employers can gain insights from the Strength in Diversity: How to Create an Inclusive Employee Benefits Program whitepaper from People Corporation.
“In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing workplace environment, with added labour shortages and inflationary pressures, it’s critical for organizations to provide a benefits program that not only attracts talented employees but also promotes DEI initiatives,” according to the document.
Read now
Canadians with rent, mortgage payments delaying retirement savings amid rising cost of living: survey
Canadian employees who rent or who have mortgage payments are managing economic pressures — like high interest rates and the rising cost of living — by putting off saving for retirement, according to a new survey by Co‑operators Financial Services Ltd. The survey, which polled 1,500 Canadian employees, found 77 per cent of renters said they either haven’t started saving for retirement or they’ve saved less than they planned to by their current age. Among those with mortgage payments, half (51 per cent) reported saving less than they planned. By contrast, three-quarters (76 per cent) of respondents who are mortgage-free homeowners said they’ve been able to save as much or more than they planned to by now.
Read now