The CAAT Plan’s Governors continue to place benefit security and value for contributions high on the list of priorities.
Thanks to its prudent, long-term approach to managing funding, CAAT remains in a strong position at 124% funded and has moved into Level 5 of the Funding Policy, as of January 1, 2023. This means that conditional benefits such as inflation protection increases have been granted through to 2026. And the Plan’s Governors have also approved valuable changes to both DBprime and DBplus, starting January 1, 2025.
What does this mean for you and members?
Employers that offer DBprime – lower contribution rates for members and employers
Both the DBprime contribution rates for members and the matching employer rates will go down by 1% starting January 1, 2025. This is great news for members – they will contribute less while earning the same great pension. This is great news for employers too – your matching DBprime contributions will also go down, increasing your ability to attract and retain talent with a valuable DB pension, while lowering your pension costs.
What’s changing
Starting January 1, 2025, the DBprime contribution rates for full-time members and employers will decrease:
- from 11.2% to 10.2% on earnings up to the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE), and
- from 14.8% to 13.8% on earnings above the YMPE.
Actions to take
The contribution rate decrease will take effect starting January 1, 2025, which allows time to prepare updates to your payroll systems and budgets. CAAT will provide ongoing updates and support for this change.
DBplus – higher pension factor for calculating pensions
The annual pension factor used to calculate base DBplus pensions will increase from 8.5% to 9.5% on January 1, 2025, for pensions earned going forward from that date. This will result in an increase of over 10% in annual pension accrued for members, with no corresponding increase to member and employer contribution rates.
What’s changing
For pensions earned on or after January 1, 2025, the DBplus pension calculation will change from:
- (Member + Employer contributions) x 8.5%
to
- (Member + Employer contributions) x 9.5%
Pensions earned before January 1, 2025, will continue to be calculated based on the 8.5% annual pension factor.
Actions to take
This change does not impact member and employer contribution rates. However, the Annual Pension Factor will have to be updated to 9.5% when calculating Pension Adjustments in early 2026 for calendar year 2025. CAAT will provide ongoing updates and support for this change.
Learn more
CAAT will announce these changes to members directly by email. If members have questions, refer them to CAAT’s Member Services team via the Message Centre in My Pension (for those who have access) or by email at member@caatpension.ca.
To learn more about these changes, the 2022 valuation, and CAAT’s Funding Policy visit these webpages: