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HOOPP

Benefit improvements

Benefit improvements

Benefit improvements

The Plan How Your Pension Works Benefit improvements

You work hard. Your pension works hard for you.

As one of Canada’s strongest pension plans, HOOPP provides secure and reliable retirement income to our members. Our mission is to deliver on our pension promise.

In addition to the many Plan features that we offer, HOOPP has, on occasion, approved increases to lifetime pensions through past service benefit improvements. 

What is a benefit improvement?

At HOOPP, we know that every dollar counts. When a benefit improvement is approved, eligible members receive a larger lifetime pension for contributory service in the years where an increase is applicable.

This means that eligible members will receive a larger lifetime pension for certain past service compared to what they would have received in retirement prior to the improvements. These increases build on each other to provide members with even more financial security in retirement.

What does this mean for you?

These enhancements increase the lower 1.5% rate in the pension formula, as the upper 2% rate is already at the maximum allowed by law. Benefit improvements can help eligible members get even more value with:

  • A higher lifetime pension and survivor benefits for the years of contributory service enhanced by the benefit improvements.

  • A smoother income transition at age 65, if you retire early. This means that you will see less of a change to your monthly payments when the bridge benefit ends because your lifetime pension is higher. As a result, the bridge benefit may play a smaller role in your decision of when to retire.

Benefit improvements provide you with even more secure income in retirement. They may also help provide more flexibility on the decision of when to retire or whether to focus on personal savings or other priorities. These are just a few of the many ways HOOPP works hard for you.

Learn more about the benefits of being a HOOPP member.

Explore the benefits for yourself

The example below shows how Diane’s benefit improvements have built on each other to help provide her with even more security in retirement.

Details about the past benefit improvements

The following benefit improvements apply to eligible members who were active in the Plan as of the applicable date of the increase, including other eligible members, as provided in the HOOPP Plan Text.

If you are buying back service for a year in which a benefit improvement applies, you will become eligible for the increase once that service is purchased. Or, you may become eligible for a past service benefit improvement if you rejoin HOOPP with a prior membership in the Plan.

HOOPP pension formula

For each year of contributory service, you receive 1.5% of your average annualized earnings up to the average year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE), plus 2% of your average annualized earnings above the average YMPE. To learn more about how your pension is determined, visit How your pension works.

If you are eligible for a benefit improvement, the 1.5% portion of the formula is replaced by the rate below for the applicable years of past contributory service.

Effective date of benefit improvements Increase to lifetime pension formula Years of contributory service impacted
January 1, 2018* 1.75% of average earnings up to the average YMPE Service before 2018
April 1, 2021 1.75% of average earnings up to the average YMPE Service in 2018, 2019 and 2020
January 1, 2023 1.9% of average earnings up to the average YMPE

2% of average earnings up to the average YMPE 		Service to the end of 2020 (building even more upon the increases approved in 2018 and 2021)
Service in 2021 and 2022
July 1, 2024 2% of average earnings up to the average YMPE Service in 2023

*Also, starting January 1, 2018, HOOPP determines the average YMPE based on the five calendar years immediately before an eligible member’s retirement. Previously a three-year average YMPE was used. For eligible members, the improvement applies to all past and future service. Since this results in a lower average, more pension is paid at 2% as compared to an average YMPE based on a three-year average, which benefits eligible members with average earnings above the average YMPE. In addition, spousal survivor benefits were improved.

Past service increases impact your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contribution room in the future. Learn more about PSPAs.

This document provides a simplified overview of HOOPP's benefits based on the terms of the HOOPP Plan Text at the time of publication. From time to time, HOOPP may amend the HOOPP Plan Text. In cases where the information provided in this document differs from that contained in the HOOPP Plan Text, the HOOPP Plan Text will govern. More details, including the full HOOPP Plan Text and a complete description of the Plan and its benefits, can be found on hoopp.com.