Long-term income protection (LTIP) new rules

Post-2015 LTIP rules for certain members

The following applies to you if:

  1. You have been approved for LTIP as a result of a disability that occurred on or after January 1, 2016 (January 1, 2017 for Case Management Masters, January 1, 2018 for TVO employees, September 1, 2018 for Walkerton Clean Water Centre, or April 1, 2020 for Justices of the Peace), and
  2. You are:
    • A non-bargaining* employee of
      • A ministry (including Cabinet Office)
      • A Commission public body
      • The Lieutenant Governor's office
    • An employee of a minister's office
    • An employee of the Office of the Auditor General
    • An employee of the Algonquin Forestry Authority
    • An employee of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT)
    • An employee of TVO
    • An employee of the Walkerton Clean Water Centre
    • A Case Management Master
    • A Justice of the Peace
    • A full-time appointee to a tribunal or regulatory body

*Employees represented by the Association of Ontario Physicians and Dentists in Public Service are considered non-bargaining employees for LTIP purposes.

  • You will continue to pay member contributions while on LTIP, but your contributions will be calculated based on 70% of your salary as of the day before your LTIP effective date. Every January, your salary will be adjusted for inflation and your contributions will be recalculated.
  • Your employer will continue to match your contributions to the PSPP while you're on LTIP.
  • Canada Life will deduct your pension contributions from your LTIP payments and remit them directly to OPB.
  • If your LTIP payments from Canada Life are not sufficient to cover the full cost of your pension contributions, you may be required to pay your contributions to OPB directly. This could occur if your LTIP payments are offset by CPP disability benefits, or Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) benefits or if you're participating in a return-to-work program.

    Note: TVO employees will pay their pension contributions by a different process. Please contact TVO for further information.

While you are on LTIP, you will earn 70% of the pension credit you regularly earned before the disability occurred. For example:

  • If you were a full-time employee at the time you qualified for LTIP, you will earn 0.7 years (8.4 months) of pension credit for every year you are on LTIP. Partial years will be pro–rated accordingly.
  • If you were a 60% regular part-time employee at the time you qualified for LTIP, you will earn 0.42 years (5 months) of pension credit for every year you are on LTIP. Partial years will be pro–rated accordingly.

Important: Being on LTIP may delay when you reach an early unreduced retirement date under the PSPP (Factor 90 or 60/20) since you will earn less pension credit while you are on LTIP.

No. The Plan text does not permit members on LTIP to purchase or top-up their pension credit for LTIP periods.

Provided you continue to qualify for LTIP and remain employed by your current employer, you can earn pension credit in the PSPP until you reach age 65. At that time you will be required to start your PSPP pension.

You can start your PSPP pension any time after reaching age 55 with an age-based reduction, or you can begin an unreduced PSPP as soon as you meet an early unreduced retirement date under the PSPP.

You may continue to receive LTIP benefits from your LTIP carrier until you reach age 65; however, please note that under many LTIP policies, LTIP payments are offset dollar for dollar by pension payments from the PSPP.

No, participating in a return-to-work program will not affect your PSPP contributions or the pension credit you earn while on LTIP.

You and your employer will continue to make the same pension contributions as before you began your return-to-work program, and you will continue to earn 70% of your regular pension credit, regardless of how many hours you are working.

If your LTIP payments from Canada Life while you participate in your return-to-work program are insufficient to cover the cost your pension contributions, you may be required to pay your member contributions to OPB directly.

For the first year after your disability occurred and during which you are approved for WSIB benefits, you will have the option of topping-up your pension contributions to earn 100% of your regular pension credit. Your employer will match your contributions. After the first year, you will make 70% of your regular contributions and earn 70% of your regular pension credit as detailed above.