Public Service Superannuation Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-36)

Annuities: How Computed

Marginal note:Computation of annuities

• 11 (1) The amount of any annuity to which a contributor may become entitled under this Part is an amount equal to the aggregate of

  • (a) an amount equal to

    • (i) the number of years of pensionable service to the credit of the contributor occurring in the period preceding the day on which this subsection comes into force, not exceeding thirty-five, divided by fifty,

    multiplied by

    • (ii) the average annual salary received by the contributor during any five-year period of pensionable service selected by or on behalf of the contributor, or during any period so selected consisting of consecutive periods of pensionable service totalling five years, or

    • (iii) in the case of a contributor who has to the contributor’s credit less than five years of pensionable service, the average annual salary received by the contributor during the period of pensionable service to the contributor’s credit; and

  • (b) an amount equal to

    • (i) the number of years of pensionable service to the credit of the contributor occurring in the period on and after the day on which this subsection comes into force, not exceeding thirty-five years less the number of years of pensionable service to the credit of the contributor under subparagraph (a)(i), divided by fifty,

    multiplied by the lesser of

    • (ii) the average annual salary received by the contributor during the period referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii) or (iii), as applicable, and

    • (iii) the annual rate of salary that is fixed by the regulations made under paragraph 42.1(1)(a), or that may be determined in the manner prescribed by those regulations, and in force on the day on which the contributor most recently ceased to be employed in the public service.

• Marginal note:Deduction from annuity

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), unless the Minister is satisfied that a contributor

  • (a) has not reached the age of sixty-five years, and

  • (b) has not become entitled to a disability pension payable under paragraph 44(1)(b) of the Canada Pension Plan or a provision of a provincial pension plan similar to the Canada Pension Plan,

  there shall be deducted from the amount of any annuity to which that contributor is entitled under this Part an amount equal to the percentage, as set out in subsection (2.1), of

  • (c) the average annual salary received by the contributor during the period of pensionable service described in subsection (1) applicable to him or her, not exceeding his or her Average Maximum Pensionable Earnings,

  multiplied by

  • (d) the number of years of pensionable service after 1965 to the credit of the contributor, not exceeding thirty-five, divided by fifty.

• Marginal note:Percentages

  (2.1) For the purposes of subsection (2), the percentage that applies in respect of a contributor is

  • (a) 35%, if the contributor was born before 1943;

  • (b) 34.25%, if the contributor was born in 1943;

  • (c) 33.5%, if the contributor was born in 1944;

  • (d) 32.75% if the contributor was born in 1945;

  • (e) 32%, if the contributor was born in 1946; and

  • (f) 31.25%, if the contributor was born after 1946.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (2),

  Average Maximum Pensionable Earnings

  Average Maximum Pensionable Earnings means, with respect to any contributor, the average of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings for the year in which the contributor

  • (a) ceased to be employed in the public service, or

  • (b) becomes entitled to receive a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial plan similar thereto,

  whichever is the earlier, and for each of the four preceding years; (moyenne des maximums des gains ouvrant droit à pension)

  Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings

  Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings has the same meaning as in the Canada Pension Plan. (maximum des gains annuels ouvrant droit à pension)

• Marginal note:Air traffic controller benefits

  (4) For the purpose of paragraph (a) of the definition Average Maximum Pensionable Earnings in subsection (3) when applied in computing the annuity payable to a contributor pursuant to subsection 17(2), that contributor shall be deemed to have ceased to be employed in the public service at the time he ceased to be employed in operational service, as defined in section 15.

• Marginal note:Circumstances where annuity to be increased

  (5) Where a person who was a contributor on December 31, 1965, and who has been employed in the public service substantially without interruption since that day has become entitled to an immediate annuity under this Part and

  • (a) the amount of the annuity, together with such amount as is determined in accordance with the regulations to be the amount of any retirement or disability pension to which that person is entitled under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan or, in the case of a retirement pension, to which he would be entitled thereunder, if he applied therefor and it had not been commuted, that is attributable to contributions made thereunder in respect of his employment in the public service,

  is less than

  • (b) the amount of the annuity to which he would have been entitled under this Part if no deduction was made as required under subsection (2),

  the amount of the annuity payable to him under this Part shall, on application therefor by him in the manner prescribed by the regulations, be increased by the amount of the difference effective from such day as is determined in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (6) Subsection (5) does not apply to a person described therein during any period that a retirement pension is not payable to him.

• Marginal note:Salary deemed to have been received during certain periods

  (7) For the purposes of subsection (1),

  • (a) a person who has to his credit pensionable service that includes any period of service in the forces specified in clause 6(1)(a)(iii)(B) is deemed to have received during that period such salary as was authorized as payable to him from time to time;

  • (b) a person who has to his credit pensionable service that includes a period

    • (i) during which that person, having been employed in the public service immediately prior to his enlistment in the forces, was on active service in the forces during World War I, not having been a civil servant within the meaning of the Superannuation Act, or was on active service in the forces during World War II, not having been a contributor under Part I of that Act, or

    • (ii) during which that person, having been a contributor under Part I of the Superannuation Act immediately prior to his enlistment in the forces and having resigned to enlist, was on active service in the forces during World War II,

    is deemed to have received, during that period in World War I or World War II, a salary at a rate equal to the rate of salary authorized to be paid to him immediately prior to his enlistment, except that in the case of a person who was employed in the public service immediately prior to his enlistment in the forces during one of those wars but was not so employed immediately prior to his enlistment in the forces during the other war, the rate of salary that is deemed to have been received by that person during the period in which he was on active service in the forces during the other war is the initial rate of salary authorized to be paid to him on subsequently becoming employed in the public service;

  • (c) a person who has to his credit pensionable service that includes a period

    • (i) during which that person was on active service in the forces during World War I or World War II, not having been employed in the public service immediately prior to his enlistment or, in the case of a person who elected after January 1, 1954 to pay for that period, not having been employed in the public service on a full-time basis immediately prior to his enlistment,

    • (ii) during which that person was engaged in pensionable employment, or

    • (iii) of service of a kind described in clause 6(1)(b)(iii)(C), (D) or (E),

    is deemed to have received during that period a salary at a rate equal to the initial rate of salary authorized to be paid to him on subsequently becoming employed in the public service;

  • (c.1) a person who has to that person’s credit pensionable service described in clause 6(1)(b)(iii)(M) or (N) is deemed to have received during that period such salary as was authorized as payable to that person from time to time;

  • (d) a person who has to the person’s credit pensionable service that includes a period during which that person was absent from the public service on leave of absence without pay is deemed to have received during that period a salary at a rate as prescribed in the regulations;

  • (e) where a person has to his credit pensionable service that includes any period of service for which he elected or might have elected under this Part to pay an amount calculated on the basis of his salary at the rate authorized to be paid to him on the most recent occasion on which he became a contributor under this Part, he shall be deemed to have received during that period a salary at that rate, notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c);

  • (f) a person who, during World War II, was a contributor under Part I of the Superannuation Act is deemed to have received during that period any annual increase that he would have received but for an order in council restricting payment of annual increases to employees in the public service by reason of the war; and

  • (g) where the rate of salary authorized to be paid to a person at any time before July 14, 1960 exceeded fifteen thousand dollars a year, the annual rate deemed to have been so authorized at that time shall be fifteen thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Computation of average annual salary

  (8) For the purposes of subparagraphs (1)(a)(ii) and (iii), any period of service during which a person is employed in the public service and is required to make contributions under subsection 5(3), or was required to make contributions under subsection 5(3), (3.1) or (4) as it read on December 31, 2012, is deemed to be a period of pensionable service to his or her credit.

• Marginal note:Application

  (9) Subparagraphs (1)(a)(ii) and (iii), as enacted by subsection 15(1) of the Budget Implementation Act, 1999, apply with respect to benefits payable to or in respect of a person who contributes under section 5 or 65 on or after the day on which this subsection comes into force but do not apply to a person who became entitled to an annuity before the coming into force of this subsection, is re-employed in the public service and is a contributor referred to in section 29 and who, on ceasing to be re-employed, exercises an option in favour of a return of contributions or is only entitled to a return of contributions.

• Marginal note:Application

  (10) The definition Average Maximum Pensionable Earnings in subsection (3), as enacted by subsection 15(2) of the Budget Implementation Act, 1999, applies only with respect to deductions from annuities made under subsection (2) that take effect on or after the day on which this subsection comes into force.

Group 1 Contributors with Less than Two Years of Pensionable Service

Marginal note:Group 1 contributors

• 12 (0.1) For the purposes of this section, a Group 1 contributor is

  • (a) a person employed in the public service who was required to contribute under section 5 on December 31, 2012 and who has continued to be required to contribute under that section without interruption since that date;

  • (b) a person employed in the public service who commenced being so employed before January 1, 2013, who has continued to be so employed, without interruption, since that date and who, having been required to contribute under section 5 before January 1, 2013, has before, on or after that date ceased or ceases to be required to do so and since the cessation has not been required to contribute under that section;

  • (c) a person employed in the public service who commenced being so employed before January 1,  2013, who has continued to be so employed, without interruption, since that date, who was not required to contribute under section 5 before that date by reason only of paragraph 5(1)(f) and who is required to contribute under section 5 on or after that date;

  • (d) a person employed in the public service who was required to contribute under section 5 before January 1, 2013, who ceased or ceases to be required to contribute before, on or after that date, who is again required to contribute under that section on or after that date, and who

    • (i) has been employed in the public service without interruption since the cessation, or

    • (ii) immediately before again being required to contribute, was receiving or entitled to receive an annual allowance, a deferred annuity or an immediate annuity under this section or section 13;

  • (e) a person who, having been required to contribute under section 5 before January 1, 2013, has before that date ceased to be required to do so and is receiving or is entitled to receive an annual allowance, a deferred annuity or an immediate annuity under this section or section 13; or

  • (f) a person who, on the day immediately before the day on which he or she ceases to be employed in the public service, is a person described in any of paragraphs (a) to (d), unless he or she has received a return of contributions under subsection (3) or payment of a transfer value to him or her has been effected in accordance with subsection 13.01(2).

• Marginal note:Group 1 contributors with less than two years of pensionable service

  (1) The following provisions are applicable in respect of any contributor described in subsection (2):

  • (a) if the contributor ceases to be employed in the public service, having reached sixty years of age, or ceases to be employed in the public service by reason of having become disabled, he or she is entitled, at his or her option, to

    • (i) an immediate annuity, or

    • (ii) either a cash termination allowance or a return of contributions, whichever is the greater;

  • (b) if the contributor ceases to be employed in the public service, not having reached sixty years of age, for any reason other than disability, he or she is entitled, at his or her option, to

    • (i) a deferred annuity,

    • (ii) a return of contributions, or

    • (iii) an annual allowance calculated and payable in the manner set out in clause 13(1)(c)(ii)(D); and

  • (c) if the contributor becomes disabled, not having reached sixty years of age but having become entitled to a deferred annuity, he ceases to be entitled to that deferred annuity and becomes entitled to an immediate annuity.

  • (d) [Repealed, 1999, c. 34, s. 64]

• Marginal note:Group 1 contributors to whom subsection (1) applies

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a contributor described in this subsection is any Group 1 contributor who

  • (a) having been a contributor under Part I of the Superannuation Act immediately prior to January 1, 1954 and having been employed in the public service substantially without interruption thereafter, has to the contributor’s credit less than two years of pensionable service;

  • (b) having to the contributor’s credit more than thirty-three years of service giving rise to a superannuation or pension benefit of a kind described in subsection 5(5), has to the contributor’s credit less than two years of pensionable service;

  • (c) having had to the contributor’s credit more than two years of pensionable service, has, on ceasing to be employed in the public service in order to become employed by an approved employer, less than two years of pensionable service remaining to the contributor’s credit for which no further contributions are required and that the contributor is unable to count as pensionable service for the purposes of the superannuation or pension fund or plan of that approved employer; or

  • (d) having had to the contributor’s credit more than two years of pensionable service, has, on ceasing to be employed in the public service in order to become a member of the regular force or of the Force, less than two years of pensionable service remaining to the contributor’s credit that the contributor is unable to count as pensionable service for the purposes of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act.

• Marginal note:Other Group 1 contributors

  (3) A Group 1 contributor, other than one described in subsection (2), who has to his or her credit less than two years of pensionable service, is entitled, on ceasing to be employed in the public service, to a return of contributions.

• Marginal note:Allowance to survivor and children

  (4) On the death of a contributor who, at the time of death, was entitled under subsection (1) to an immediate annuity, a deferred annuity or an annual allowance, the survivor and children of the contributor are entitled to the following allowances, computed on the basis of the product obtained by multiplying the average annual salary of the contributor during the period applicable, as specified in subsection 11(1) or elsewhere in this Part for the purposes of that subsection, by the number of years of pensionable service to his or her credit, one one-hundredth of the product so obtained being referred to in this subsection as the “basic allowance”:

  • (a) in the case of the survivor, an immediate annual allowance equal to the basic allowance, and

  • (b) in the case of each child, an immediate annual allowance equal to one-fifth of the basic allowance or, if the contributor died without leaving a survivor, the survivor is dead or the survivor is not entitled to receive an allowance under this Part, other than an immediate annual allowance under section 13.1, two-fifths of the basic allowance,

  but the total amount of the allowances paid under paragraph (b) shall not exceed four-fifths of the basic allowance or, if the contributor died without leaving a survivor, the survivor is dead or the survivor is not entitled to receive an allowance under this Part, other than an immediate annual allowance under section 13.1, eight-fifths of the basic allowance.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (5) Where, in computing the allowances to which the children of a contributor are entitled under subsection (4), it is determined that there are more than four children of the contributor entitled to an allowance, the total amount of the allowances shall be apportioned among the children in such shares as the Minister deems just and proper under the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Allowance

  (6) Notwithstanding subsection (8), on the death of a contributor who at the time of death was a contributor described in paragraph (2)(a) or (b), the survivor and children of the contributor are entitled to the annual allowances to which they would have been entitled under subsection (4) had the contributor, immediately prior to death, become entitled under subsection (1) to an immediate annuity, a deferred annuity or an annual allowance.

• Marginal note:Allowance

  (7) On the death of a contributor who has, after having reached the age of forty-five years, received an amount as a cash termination allowance or as a return of contributions in respect of pensionable service prior to October 1, 1967, but who continued, on receiving the cash termination allowance or return of contributions, to have to his or her credit pensionable service after September 30, 1967 of less than five years, the survivor and children of the contributor are entitled to the annual allowances to which they would have been entitled under subsection (4) had the contributor, immediately before death, become entitled under subsection (1) to an immediate annuity, a deferred annuity or an annual allowance.

• Marginal note:Lump sum payment to survivor and children

  (8) Subject to subsection (7), on the death of a contributor who, not having been a contributor under Part I of the Superannuation Act immediately before January 1, 1954, or, having been a contributor under that Act at that time but not having continued to be employed in the public service substantially without interruption after that date, was employed in the public service at the time of the contributor’s death, having to the contributor’s credit less than two years of pensionable service, the survivor and children of the contributor, in any case where the contributor died leaving a survivor or a child less than eighteen years of age, are entitled, jointly, to a death benefit equal to a return of contributions.

• Marginal note:Definition of “child”

  (9) For the purposes of this section and section 13, child means a child of the contributor who

  • (a) is less than eighteen years of age; or

  • (b) is eighteen or more years of age but less than twenty-five years of age, and is in full-time attendance at a school or university, having been in such attendance substantially without interruption since the child reached eighteen years of age or the contributor died, whichever occurred later.