Earnings you are credited with in a calendar year that count toward your HOOPP pension. If you work part time or less than one full year, your annualized earnings will be based on what you would earn if you worked full time for the whole year. If you’re an incorporated physician, your annualized earnings in a calendar year are based on the greater of your pensionable earnings expressed on an annualized basis (up to your upper earnings limit) and your lower earnings limit.

The highest average of your annualized earnings during any consecutive period(s) of five years of eligibility service before your benefit is calculated. Benefits are calculated when you retire, terminate or pass away.

The average of the year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) for the five years before your HOOPP benefit is calculated. Your benefit is calculated when you retire, terminate or pass away.

If you’re an incorporated physician, these are the pensionable earnings you are expected to receive in a calendar year, expressed on an annualized basis. Your baseline earnings for your first year of membership are established by your employer (Medicine Professional Corporation or MPC). In each subsequent year, your baseline earnings are your annualized earnings from the previous year. For the purposes of contributing to the Plan, your employer (MPC) applies HOOPP’s contribution rates to the greater of your pensionable earnings expressed on an annualized basis (up to your upper earnings limit) and your lower earnings limit.

The person(s) or organization(s) you designate to receive any benefits which may be payable when you pass away if you do not have a qualifying spouse, or if spousal benefits have been waived.

A temporary monthly benefit payable in addition to your lifetime pension if you retire early. Any bridge benefit will continue until age 65 or you pass away, whichever happens first.

A provision HOOPP offers that enables you to purchase eligible periods of service that occurred in the past in order to increase your pension benefit in retirement.

CPP is a mandatory social security plan administered by Service Canada and funded by the contributions of employees, employers and self-employed people. The CPP provides contributors with a predictable lifetime pension in retirement, based on their age, earnings and years of participation, and is indexed to inflation. CPP also provides survivor and disability benefits to qualifying persons.

A Canada-model pension plan, like HOOPP, includes mandatory or automatic contributions by plan members and employers and all investment decisions are managed by expert investment professionals on behalf of members. These are typically defined benefit pension plans with independent governance, scale, in-house management, diversification and a long-time horizon, which means it uses long-term investment strategies to withstand short-term market volatility. Canada-model plans also utilize the five key value drivers of retirement efficiency: saving, fees and costs, investment discipline, fiduciary governance and risk pooling.

Capital accumulation plans are tax-assisted group retirement or savings plans. These plans may be established by an employer, union, association or other entity for the benefit of its employees or members. Capital accumulation plans can include group registered retirement savings plans (RRSP), defined contribution (DC) pension plans, deferred profit-sharing plans and employee profit-sharing plans, among others. Capital accumulation plans can vary in size from small to large depending on the plan sponsor and number of contributors.

The lump-sum value of your earned pension is referred to as its commuted value. This is the estimated amount of money that HOOPP would have to set aside today to pay for your pension in the future. The commuted value changes based on factors such as age, life expectancy, inflation and interest rates. Your commuted value will include interest from the calculation date to the payment date. If more than 12 months have passed since the calculation date, HOOPP will recalculate the value.

The length of time you have contributed to HOOPP. It includes any free accrual and periods gained by buying back service and excludes non-contributory leaves. Contributory service is used to calculate your pension. If you’re an incorporated physician with pensionable earnings in a calendar year that, when expressed on an annualized basis, are less than your lower earnings limit, your contributory service will be adjusted proportionally.

HOOPP may provide inflation protection to pensions through COLA. HOOPP uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of the rate of inflation, when determining COLA. Annual COLA is not guaranteed, except for contributory service before 2006, which is guaranteed at 75% of the previous year’s rate of increase in the CPI, up to a maximum of 10%. Learn more about HOOPP’s inflation protection.

A DB pension plan provides members with a predictable amount of lifetime retirement income. Benefits are determined by a formula that is often based on years of service times earnings, rather than by the investment returns made on their pension contributions.

In a DC pension plan, each member builds an account based on the contributions made by their employer and/or by the member, and any investment returns. The amount of pension income the member receives in retirement is determined by, among other things, the total contributions accumulated over time and the investment income earned.

A disability benefit offered by HOOPP which allows you to take an immediate pension without early retirement adjustments if HOOPP determines you are totally and permanently disabled. It is based on your contributory service (including any free accrual) accrued up to the date you start your disability pension. While your disability pension is not subject to early retirement adjustments, you will not be entitled to bridge benefits.

HOOPP uses a number of different measures of earnings for the purposes of calculating required contributions and benefit entitlements, each of which may differ from the actual employment earnings you receive from your employer. HOOPP calculates your earnings for benefit purposes each year using the total contributions received from you to express your pensionable earnings on an annualized basis. If you contribute at more than one employer in the year, your earnings for benefit purposes are calculated using your total contributions from all of your employers. Your pension benefit is calculated using the average of your best five consecutive years of earnings.

If you’re an incorporated physician, this is the amount that establishes your upper earnings limit and lower earnings limit. It is determined in each calendar year as the previous year’s rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%, multiplied by your baseline earnings.

The length of time you have been a member of HOOPP. It includes any free accrual and periods gained by buying back service and excludes certain periods when you did not make contributions to the Plan. Eligibility service is used to determine the reduction (if any) that will apply to your pension if you decide to retire early.

A disability benefit offered by HOOPP that allows you to continue to build your HOOPP pension while you are disabled, without the need to make contributions. Free accrual is subject to maximums related to your age, total contributory service and level of disability.

A group RRSP is a type of retirement savings plan, similar to an individual RRSP, but administered on a group basis by an employer or other organization. Contributions are often made by payroll deduction, through a Group RRSP administrator. Employer contributions are not mandatory and are a taxable benefit to the employee.

The GIS is a monthly payment administered by Service Canada, which is available to lower-income individuals living in Canada who receive the OAS pension. Eligibility is based on annual income.

A medical doctor licensed to practice medicine and operating under a Medicine Professional Corporation (MPC) in Ontario. An incorporated physician who is identified as participating within their MPC’s HOOPP participation agreement will join HOOPP and be deemed to be a full-time member.

A LIF is a type of tax-deferred retirement savings arrangement, like a registered retirement income fund. It is used for locked-in funds that are transferred from a LIRA or a registered pension plan. LIFs are intended to provide retirement income and cannot be cashed out, unlocked or assigned except as permitted by the Ontario Pension Benefits Act.

The monthly lifetime payment you will receive from HOOPP at retirement, based on HOOPP’s DB pension formula. This does not include the bridge benefit for members who retire early.

A LIRA is a type of a tax-deferred retirement savings arrangement, like an RRSP. It is used for locked-in funds that are transferred from a registered pension plan. LIRAs are intended to provide retirement income and cannot be cashed out, unlocked or assigned except as permitted by the Ontario Pension Benefits Act.

If you’re an incorporated physician, these are your minimum pensionable earnings, expressed on an annualized basis, on which you can build benefits without an adjustment to your contributory service. Where your annualized pensionable earnings are less than your lower earnings limit, your contributory service is adjusted proportionally. This limit is determined in each calendar year as your baseline earnings minus your earnings limit adjustment.

The OAS pension is a monthly payment administered by Service Canada, which is available to Canadians and legal residents of Canada if they are 65 years old and older. The amount you receive depends on such factors as your income and how long you have lived in Canada since turning 18.

Having a physical or mental impairment which HOOPP has determined prevents you from performing the duties related to your current job.

A PSPA reduces your RRSP room when your lifetime pension is improved on a past service basis. A PSPA may occur when you are eligible for a benefit improvement, when you buy back service, contribute for a leave or re-enrol in the Plan. The timing and impact depends on the situation.

A PA reflects the value of the pension benefit you earned in a calendar year, using a formula set out in the tax rules. This is different than the amount of lifetime pension you have earned and the contributions that you make under the Plan terms. A PA reduces your RRSP contribution room in the following year.

A PAR may restore RRSP contribution room if you leave your HOOPP employer and decide to take your benefits out of the Plan. In simple terms, a PAR will occur if the PAs and PSPAs reported for your HOOPP benefit exceed the amount you receive when you leave the Plan.

The regular straight time portion of wages, salary and other amounts paid to you in relation to hours, weeks, or other specific periods of time that you’re employed, and that form a regular and integral part of your remuneration up to the full-time hours for your position. Your pensionable earnings may differ from the actual employment earnings you receive from your employer. For more information about pensionable earnings, you can consult HOOPP’s Employer Administration Manual which is available on hoopp.com.

In general terms, a qualifying spouse is a person who, at the earlier of the date that you retire or pass away, you were married to but not living separate and apart from, or living together continuously in a common law relationship for at least one year, or earlier if as parents of a child. To be eligible to receive a spousal lifetime pension, your spouse must meet the definition of a qualifying spouse, as set out in the HOOPP Plan Text, at the applicable time.

An RRSP is a retirement savings plan that you establish, and that is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency, to which you or your spouse or common-law partner contribute. Deductible RRSP contributions can be used to reduce your tax. Any income you earn in the RRSP is usually exempt from tax as long as the funds remain in the Plan; you generally have to pay tax when you receive payments from the Plan. Contributions are subject to annual limits.

A TFSA is a way for individuals who are 18 years of age or older and who have a valid social insurance number (SIN) to set money aside tax-free throughout their lifetime. The contributions you make to a TFSA are not deductible for income tax purposes. Any amount contributed, as well as any income earned in the account (for example, investment income and capital gains), is generally tax-free, even when it is withdrawn. The maximum amount you can contribute to a TFSA is determined by your TFSA contribution room.

Having a physical or mental impairment which HOOPP has determined prevents you from engaging in any employment for which you are reasonably suited by virtue of your education, training or experience, and can reasonably be expected to continue for the remainder of your lifetime.

Having a physical or mental impairment which HOOPP has determined prevents you from engaging in any employment for which you are reasonably suited by virtue of your education, training or experience.

If you’re an incorporated physician, these are your maximum pensionable earnings, expressed on an annualized basis, on which you can contribute and build benefits. This limit is determined in each calendar year as your baseline earnings plus your earnings limit adjustment.

To be vested means that you are entitled to receive a future pension. If you are a member of the Plan on or after July 1, 2012, you are vested.

An amount set each year by the federal government based on the average wage in Canada. The YMPE is used in determining your required contributions to the Plan and your HOOPP pension.