To retire from the PSPP, you must have a minimum of five years of pensionable service. This does not have to be five consecutive years, just a total of 60 months.

Your retirement date depends on many factors, including your age, how much pensionable service you have credited in the PSPP, and whether you were a member of the Plan on December 31, 2014 (when pension reform changes were introduced).

You may also be able to retire early There are provisions which will either allow you to retire on an unreduced basis or to retire earlier, subject to a reduction in your accrued pension.

• Normal Retirement

  The Plan’s normal retirement age (the age at which all vested members are eligible to retire with an unreduced pension) is 65.

• Early Unreduced Retirement

  Changes to the Plan’s early unreduced retirement criteria were introduced as of January 1, 2015.

  However, during the period from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019, you were eligible to retire with an unreduced pension if you satisfied one of the following criteria:

  • You had reached age 60 with a minimum of five years of pensionable service or,
  • You had reached age 55 with a minimum of 30 years of pensionable service

  If you were already a member of the Plan on December 31, 2014, and qualified to retire on an unreduced basis under either of the above criteria prior to December 31, 2019, you are eligible to retire on an unreduced basis at any point after that date if you decided to continue working and remain an active member of the Plan. In addition, if you had a minimum of 30 years of service as of December 31, 2019, you will be grandparented in under this provision and are eligible to retire on an unreduced basis at age 55.

  For members who joined the Plan after December 31, 2014, or for members who are not grand-parented or who did not qualify for early unreduced retirement during the transitional period, the early unreduced retirement criteria changed.

  In this case, you will be eligible to retire with an unreduced pension if you meet either of the following criteria:

  • You have reached age 60 with a minimum of 10 years of pensionable service or,
  • You have reached age 58 with a minimum of 30 years of pensionable service
• Early Reduced Retirement

  There are several scenarios which allow you to retire early, with a reduction in your accrued pension.

  Currently, the criteria for an early reduced retirement are:

  1. If you are between the ages of 53 and 58 with a minimum of 30 years pensionable service, you can retire and receive an immediate pension that will be reduced by one-half per cent for each month you are less than age 58.
  2. If you are a grand-parented member because you had at least 30 years of service as of December 31, 2019, and are between the ages of 53 and 55, you can retire and receive an immediate pension that will be reduced by one-half percent for each month you are less than age 55.

  If you are between the ages of 58 and 60, with less than 30 years of pensionable service, and if your age plus service is greater than or equal to 88, you can retire and receive an immediate pension that will be reduced by one-half per cent for each month you are less than age 60.

  In these situations, the unreduced pension is calculated first, and the reduction is applied to the calculated pension and not to the accrual. As an example, if a plan member retires with 30 years of service credited, and is 56 years and seven months old, the reduction would be based on the number of months they are younger than 58, and is determined as follows:

  • Months until age 58: 17 months
  • Reduction: 17 * 0.5% = 8.5%

  Finally, all members are entitled to retire as early as age 55 provided you are vested and do not satisfy any of the above criteria. Your immediate pension in this case will be actuarially reduced.