Employers play a key role in administering the CAAT Pension Plan within their organizations. As your pension partner, CAAT’s expert Service Delivery team is ready to support you throughout this process. The following is an overview of the regular (or day-to-day) duties/tasks employers are responsible for completing. To learn more, consult the online Employer Manual (login required), talk to your Pension Analyst, or connect with our team.
New employers that join the Plan must manage the initial enrolment of eligible employees, with CAAT’s support, with contributions starting on the effective date of Plan membership. For existing participating employers, eligible new employees (and subsequent new hires) can often be enrolled online.
Employers that offer DBplus with Contribution Choice are responsible for ensuring members are notified of their contribution rate options and deadlines for choosing and changing their rates, and that their choices are documented prior to enrolment.
Employers deduct employee contributions from their pensionable earnings, add their contributions and remit the funds to CAAT using electronic funds transfer. As of January 1, 2024, contributions must be remitted to the Plan no later than 30 days after the end of the month to which the contributions relate.
Under tax law, members of registered pension plans (RPPs) receive a Pension Adjustment (PA), reported on their T4 slip, that reduces their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) room.
Using a spreadsheet supplied by CAAT or their own tool, employers must calculate the Pension Adjustment for each member of DBplus and report it on the member’s T4.
Employers that offer DBprime can use the DBprime PA calculator to calculate PAs for full-time members.
Employers report employee enrolments, employment changes, contribution rates for DBplus with Contribution Choice members, and other member events through Pension Administration Link (PAL), CAAT’s employer portal or though CAAT’s secure data sharing tool. Reports can be made either individually or via regular payroll files.
Employers that offer DBplus only report data to CAAT on a monthly basis, or more frequently.
Through the annual data collection process, some employers use an online tool to report each individual member’s T4 earnings and contributions, any breaks in service (if not provided during the year), and the Pension Adjustment for the prior calendar year.
Data collected through this process is used to provide members with personalized annual pension statements in the spring.
When applicable, employers may need to provide necessary information such as earnings data and prior plan information to support the transfer of a member’s prior retirement savings into the Plan. CAAT shoulders most of the administration and provides tools to support these transactions.
On an ongoing basis, members have the right to purchase employer-approved unpaid leaves of absence. The cost is 100% paid by the member. In addition, where prescribed by legislation, members can continue to participate in the Plan and make pension contributions for statutory leaves.
We offer a wide range of support to help you. Our Employer Services team is here to help. Once your organization becomes a CAAT participating employer, as part of the onboarding process your organization will be assigned a Pension Analyst who is ready to answer your questions.
The Employer Manual, available through PAL, provides detailed information on administering the Plan in your organization, including a Forms library for easy access to the documentation you need.
For employers that are administered directly through CAAT, our member and employer portals make online transactions easier, save employers and member time, and reduce risk.
CAAT helps you support your employees through pension education webinars that help members learn about the Plan. Feedback from past sessions show that they are highly effective at helping members understand the value of their pension.