Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. M-5)

Marginal note:Beginning of payment of allowances — July 13, 1995 to December 31, 2015

• 37.1 (1) Despite sections 36 and 37, the allowances otherwise payable to a person under those sections in respect of pensionable service calculated by reference to contributions made during the period beginning on July 13, 1995 and ending on December 31, 2015, other than those made under an election made before July 13, 1995, are not payable until the earlier of

  • (a) the day on which the person reaches fifty-five years of age, and

  • (b) the day on which the person, after ceasing to be a member, becomes entitled to receive a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan similar thereto.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who, on ceasing to be a member, is entitled to receive a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan similar thereto.

Marginal note:Allowance on ceasing to be member on or after January 1, 2016 — 65 years of age or older

• 37.2 (1) Subject to sections 58 and 59, if a person ceases to be a member after December 31, 2015, having contributed or elected to contribute under this Part or Part I or III of the former Act as a member for at least six years and the person has reached 65 years of age when he or she ceases to be a member, there shall be paid to that person during his or her lifetime a compensation allowance in an amount calculated under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Amount

  (2) The amount of the compensation allowance is the amount determined by the formula

  (A × B × 0.03) – (C + D)

  where

  A

  is the person’s average annual pensionable earnings;

  B

  is the number of years and portions of years of the person’s pensionable service calculated in accordance with subsections (3) and (4);

  C

  is an amount equal to the number determined by the calculation referred to in the description of B multiplied by an amount equal to the portion of the person’s average annual pensionable earnings that does not exceed his or her earnings limit for the calendar year in which he or she ceased to be a member multiplied by 0.02;

  D

  is an amount equal to the percentage fixed by the Chief Actuary for the purpose of subsection 17.1(2) of

  • (i) the person’s average maximum pensionable earnings multiplied by B,

  multiplied by

  • (ii) 0.01.

• Marginal note:Pensionable service

  (3) Subject to subsection (4), the person’s pensionable service for the purpose of subsection (2) is

  • (a) the years and portions of years spent as a member after December 31, 2015 during which he or she was required to contribute under this Part, other than any period in respect of which a withdrawal allowance has been paid to the person; and

  • (b) the years and portions of years in respect of which he or she elected on or after January 1, 2016 to bring to his or her credit as time spent as a member.

• Marginal note:Service after contributions under subsection 12(2.1) not to be included

  (4) The person’s service as a member during which he or she was required to contribute under subsection 12(2.1), if any, is not to be included in the calculation under subsection (3) of the person’s pensionable service.

Marginal note:Allowance on ceasing to be member on or after January 1, 2016 — under 65 years of age

• 37.3 (1) Subject to sections 58 and 59, if a person ceases to be a member after December 31, 2015, having contributed or elected to contribute under this Part or Part I or III of the former Act as a member for at least six years and the person is under 65 years of age when he or she ceases to be a member, and the person elects to receive a compensation allowance under this section, there shall be paid to that person, beginning on the date specified by him or her,

  • (a) if the specified date is before the person reaches 60 years of age,

    • (i) until the person reaches the age of 60, a compensation allowance in an amount calculated under subsection (2), and

    • (ii) after the person reaches the age of 60, during his or her lifetime, a compensation allowance in an amount calculated under subsection (3); and

  • (b) if the specified date is the day of the person’s 60th birthday or any day after that day, during his or her lifetime, a compensation allowance in an amount calculated under subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Amount of compensation allowance

  (2) For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(a)(i), the amount of the compensation allowance is the amount determined by the formula

  (A × B × 0.03) – (C × D)

  where

  A

  is the person’s average annual pensionable earnings;

  B

  is the number of years and portions of years of the person’s pensionable service calculated in accordance with subsections 37.2(3) and (4);

  C

  is an amount equal to A x B x 0.03; and

  D

  is the product obtained by multiplying 0.01 by the number of years by which the person’s age in years, to the nearest 1/10 of a year, at the time the allowance is payable, is less than 65 years of age.

• Marginal note:Amount of compensation allowance

  (3) For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(a)(ii) and paragraph (1)(b), the amount of the compensation allowance is the amount determined by the formula

  A – (A × B)

  where

  A

  is the allowance that would be payable to the person under subsection 37.2(2) if the person had reached 65 years of age; and

  B

  is the reduction factor.

• Marginal note:Limitation regarding specified date

  (4) The date specified by the person shall not be earlier than the person’s 55th birthday.

Withdrawal Allowances

Marginal note:Withdrawal allowance

38 There shall be paid to a person who ceases to be a member but who has not contributed or elected to contribute under this Part or Parts I, III and IV of the former Act as a member for at least six years a withdrawal allowance, in a lump sum, equal to the aggregate of

• (a) the total amount of the contributions that the person has paid under this Part and Parts I, III and IV of the former Act, and

• (b) the interest on those contributions that the person has paid under paragraph 33(1)(c) or (2)(d), 33.1(1) (c) or 33.2(1)(c).

Marginal note:Withdrawal allowance where member expelled

39 There shall be paid to a person who ceases to be a Senator by reason of disqualification or who is expelled from the House of Commons a withdrawal allowance, in a lump sum, equal to the aggregate of

• (a) the total amount of the contributions that the person has paid under this Part and Parts I, III and IV of the former Act, and

• (b) the interest on those contributions that the person has paid under paragraph 33(1)(c) or (2)(d), 33.1(1)(c) or 33.2(1)(c).

39.1 [Repealed, 1998, c. 23, s. 14]

Survivor Benefits

Marginal note:Survivor benefits

• 40 (1) On the death of a member or former member, there shall be paid

  • (a) to the survivor an allowance equal to three fifths of the basic compensation allowance, but, if more than one survivor is entitled to an allowance under this paragraph, the total amount of the allowances shall not exceed three fifths of the basic compensation allowance and that total amount shall be apportioned in accordance with subsection (1.1); and

  • (b) to each child, an allowance equal to one tenth of the basic compensation allowance or, if the member or former member died leaving no one entitled to an allowance under paragraph (a), two tenths of the basic compensation allowance, but the total amount of the allowances shall not exceed three tenths of the basic compensation allowance or, if the member or former member died leaving no one entitled to an allowance under paragraph (a), eight tenths of the basic compensation allowance.

• Marginal note:Apportionment

  (1.1) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), the total amount shall be apportioned so that

  • (a) the survivor referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition survivor in subsection 2(1) receives an amount, if any, equal to the total amount less any amount determined under paragraph (b); and

  • (b) the survivor referred to in paragraph (b) of that definition receives an amount equal to that proportion of the total amount that the number of years that survivor cohabited with the member or former member while a member is of the number of years that the member or former member was a member.

• Marginal note:Years

  (1.2) In determining a number of years for the purposes of subsection (1.1), a part of a year shall be counted as a full year if the part is six or more months and shall be ignored if it is less.

• Marginal note:Definition of basic compensation allowance

  (2) In this section, basic compensation allowance means

  • (a) in the case of a former member, the aggregate of all the compensation allowances and additional compensation allowances that the former member was receiving under this Part at the time of death, calculated as if the former member had reached sixty years of age immediately before death; and

  • (b) in the case of a member, the aggregate of all the compensation allowances and additional compensation allowances that the member would have been entitled to receive under this Part if the member had ceased to be a member and had reached sixty years of age immediately before death.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), if the member or former member has pensionable service that came to his or her credit on or after January 1, 2016, the member or former member is deemed to have received or to have been entitled to receive, as the case may be, a compensation allowance in an amount determined under subsection 37.2(2) without taking into account the calculation referred to in the description of D in that subsection.

Marginal note:Children born, etc., after member ceases to be a member

41 Subject to the regulations, a child who is born to or adopted by a member or who becomes the stepchild of a member after that member ceases to be a member is not entitled to an allowance under section 40.

Marginal note:Saving provision

42 Nothing in section 41 shall prejudice any right that a child of an earlier marriage of a member or former member has to an allowance under section 40.

43 [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 178]

Marginal note:Duration of entitlement

44 An allowance under section 40

• (a) shall be paid monthly in arrears in approximately equal instalments;

• (b) begins to be payable

  • (i) in respect of the death of a member, on the first day of the month immediately after the month in which the member dies, or

  • (ii) in respect of the death of a former member, on the day after the day on which the former member dies; and

• (c) in the case of an allowance under paragraph 40(1)(a), continues during the lifetime of the recipient.

Marginal note:Election for benefit

• 45 (1) If the person to whom a former member is married or with whom the former member is cohabiting in a relationship of a conjugal nature, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year, would not be entitled, in the event of the former member’s death, to receive an allowance under paragraph 20(1)(a) or 40(1)(a), the former member may elect, in accordance with the regulations, in order that the person could become entitled to an allowance under subsection (3), to reduce the amount of

  • (a) the former member’s retirement allowances and any additional retirement allowance, under Part I; and

  • (b) the former member’s compensation allowances, if any, and any additional compensation allowance, under this Part.

• Marginal note:Election for both Parts

  (2) No election may be made by a former member under subsection (1) unless the former member makes an election under subsection 25(1), if applicable, at the same time.

• Marginal note:Entitlement to allowance

  (3) A person referred to in subsection (1) is entitled to an allowance in an amount determined in accordance with the election and the regulations if the former member dies and the election is not revoked or deemed to have been revoked, and the person was married to the former member at the time of the former member’s death, or was cohabiting with the former member in a relationship of a conjugal nature for a period of at least one year immediately before the former member’s death.

• Marginal note:Payment of allowance

  (4) The allowance to the person referred to in subsection (1) shall be paid monthly in arrears in approximately equal instalments, beginning on the day after the day on which the former member dies, and continues during the person’s lifetime.

• Marginal note:No entitlement

  (5) A person who is entitled to receive an allowance under section 20 or 40 after the former member’s death is not entitled to an allowance under subsection (3) in respect of that former member.

46 [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 178]

PART IIIPrime Minister

Contributions

Marginal note:Contributions by Prime Minister — January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015

• 47 (1) Beginning on January 1, 2013 and ending on December 31, 2015, the member who holds the office of Prime Minister shall with respect to each calendar year, by reservation from the annual salary payable to the member as Prime Minister under the Salaries Act, contribute to the Compensation Arrangements Account, in respect of that salary, at the applicable contribution rate that is fixed for the purpose of paragraph 31.1(1)(c).

• Marginal note:Contributions by Prime Minister — beginning January 1, 2016

  (2) Beginning on January 1, 2016, the member who holds the office of Prime Minister shall with respect to each calendar year, by reservation from the annual salary payable to the member as Prime Minister under the Salaries Act, contribute to the Compensation Arrangements Account, in respect of that salary, at the contribution rate that is fixed for the purpose of subsection 31.2(2).

Marginal note:Allowance to former Prime Ministers

• 48 (1) There shall be paid to every person who has held the office of Prime Minister for four years before February 6, 2006 an allowance beginning on the day on which that person ceases to be a member or reaches 65 years of age, whichever is the later, equal to 2/3 of the annual salary payable under the Salaries Act to the Prime Minister as Prime Minister on that day.

• Marginal note:Allowance to former Prime Ministers

  (2) There shall be paid to every person who has held the office of Prime Minister for four years on or after February 6, 2006 an allowance beginning on the day on which that person ceases to be a member or reaches 67 years of age, whichever is the later, in an amount determined in accordance with subsections (3) and (4).

• Marginal note:Amount

  (3) The amount of the allowance is the annual salary payable under the Salaries Act to the Prime Minister as Prime Minister on the later of the days referred to in subsection (2) multiplied by the number of years and portions of years that the member held the office of Prime Minister multiplied by 0.03.

• Marginal note:Maximum

  (4) The maximum allowance payable to a person under subsection (2) is 2/3 of the annual salary payable under the Salaries Act to the Prime Minister as Prime Minister on the later of the days referred to in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Duration of entitlement

  (5) An allowance payable to a person under subsection (1) or (2) continues during the lifetime of that person, but is suspended in respect of any period during which the person is a Senator or a member of the House of Commons.