News & Events

Deadlines for January off-cycle pension payments

• December 2 was the deadline for January 1, 2020 pension starts.
• We will accept completed option documents until Thursday, December 12 (noon) to accommodate an additional January 2, 2020 pension start date.
• After that date, pensions will be paid starting in February (with a catch up payment.)
  

Inflation protection announcements to retired members

The annual letters notifying retired members of the 2020 inflation protection increase (1.47%) will be mailed on January 6, 2020. A retired member newsletter will be included with the letter. All retired members who subscribe to My Pension NewsLink received an announcement by email this week.

Begin using these updated forms and spreadsheets

The Pension Application and Termination Application smart forms have been updated with 2020 rates. As previously reported, members are no longer required to sign these forms, and the member signature sections have been removed.

We’ve also updated:

• The Full-time contribution calculation worksheets updated with 2020 rates are now available in the Employer Manual.
• The PA calculator has been updated for 2020.

2020 DCT Schedule

The Data Collection Tool (DCT) will be available starting January 24, 2020. DCT training webinars will be offered on January 21, 22 and 23.

Choose the training session that’s right for you!

You can choose to participate in either a complete DCT training webinar, or a refresher for those who have attended in the past. In 2020 we’ll offer three sessions:

• Full DCT training for employers that offer DBprime and DBplus: Whether you’ve used the DCT before or not, this session will answer all your questions.
• DCT refresher for employers that offer DBprime and DBplus: This session is ideal if you’ve used the DCT before, and just need to see what’s new.
• Full DCT training for employers that offer DBplus only: Be sure to attend if your employer only offers DBplus.

Employer Attestation for 2019 begins in January

The 2019 Employer Attestation of Administrative Compliance will be delivered to college presidents and employer CEOs between January 13 and 17. Don’t forget to review and update your 2019 training attendance reports, and send them to your employer PA by December 29, as they will be attached to the Attestation.

Employer training schedule for 2020 now available

The 2020 Employer training schedule has been posted to the Employer section of the website. There will be three DCT webinar options held in January. No training sessions will be held in February or March, so that employers can focus on year-end and DCT projects.

Plan Text Amendments ensure CAAT Plan is ready for growth across Canada

As part of the ongoing initiative to provide more working Canadians with defined benefit pensions in retirement, CAAT has recently welcomed new members from across the country. Provincial pension legislation defines min­imum pension standards that may apply to individual member entitlements. Although most of these standards are consistent across the country, there are some differ­ences that impact pension administration—for example, the definition of “spouse” varies by province. While pro­vincial legislation sets the minimum standards that apply to member entitlements, it is important to note that the CAAT Plan terms generally provide a better benefit than the minimums permissible under legislation.

In November, the Plan’s Governors passed a series of “housekeeping” amendments to make the language in the Plan Text more generic and applicable to members employed outside of Ontario. For example, references to specific Ontario-based legislation now refer to “appli­cable legislation” instead. These changes ensure that each member’s pension is administered in accordance with the applicable legislation in their province of em­ployment.

In addition, the Plan Text was updated to refer to the On­tario Regulator by its new name, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) (previously known as the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO)). The CAAT Pension Plan continues to be registered in On­tario as the majority of Plan members are in Ontario.

These housekeeping amendments do not change the pen­sions members are earning or receiving, and no action is required by you.

Member presentations - update

Successful fall webinar series We held a member webinar series in the fall, which include 4 Retirement Planning webinars (3 English, 1 French), and 4 DBplus Pension Purchase webinars (3 English, 1 French). The webinars were offered at different times of the day (morning, noon and evening) to accommodate a variety of schedules. As a result, 370 members were able to attend and learn more about the valuable pension they are earning.

Reaching 5,000 members

So far in 2019, we’ve exceeded our goal of reaching over 5,000 members through on-site member presentations, regional events, webinars, and online video views. We are currently booking sessions for 2020. To arrange a presentation for your members, contact presentations@caatpension.on.ca with your preferred date, so that we can secure it for you.

Upcoming events

Be sure to take note of the following dates, and register for and attend upcoming sessions:

• December 13 – office closed at 12:00 P.M.
• December 24 – office closed at 1:00 P.M.
• December 25 to January 1 – office closed
• January 2 – office reopens
• January 21 to 23 – Employer Education Sessions: DCT Training

Invitations for these sessions will be sent out approximately 2 weeks in advance