Your Pension and Benefits Liaison: information for retired members of the federal public service pension plan, issue 13

Issue 13: 2019

Information at your fingertips

We are pleased to announce that development is currently underway on a new online pension tool to offer you secure electronic access to your personalized public service pension documents, such as your Annual Pensioners’ Statement. This secure tool will also notify you when the Liaison newsletter becomes available online. Stay tuned as more information is coming soon!

Did you know that general information about your public service pension and group insurance benefit plans is always available online? Visit Pension and benefits to find:

• contact information for the Government of Canada Pension Centre (Pension Centre) and benefit plans
• forms
• the latest news and notices
• plan information
• pension services

Keep your Supplementary Death Benefit beneficiary contact information up to date

Did you know that the Pension Centre is unable to locate many beneficiaries who are entitled to a Supplementary Death Benefit because the information on file is missing or outdated? As a result, beneficiaries may not receive their entitlements in a timely manner. It is therefore important that you keep information up to date to ensure that the Pension Centre can locate your beneficiary to issue any benefits that they are entitled to upon your death.

You can update this information in writing or by calling the Pension Centre at any time. You should also inform your survivor, beneficiary or executor to contact the Pension Centre in the event of your death.

Pension statements: When are they issued?

The Annual Pensioners’ Statement is a personalized statement distributed every January that provides you with details about your monthly pension payments. Generally, this is the only statement issued during the calendar year.

However, you will receive an additional statement during the year if your net pension amount changes by $2.00 or more. Your net pension might change as a result of a retroactive salary adjustment, updated health and dental insurance premiums, or the finalization of your service buyback.

For information about your next monthly pension deposit, consult the Pension calendar.

Protect yourself against fraud

Beware of criminals claiming to be from the Pension Centre who are seeking your personal or financial information by telephone, mail, text message or email. The Pension Centre never sends emails with links that ask you for personal or financial information. However, the Pension Centre may contact you to follow up on phone calls, requests that you have initiated, or to update your contact information.

If you receive an unsolicited email, do not respond to it or click on any of the links in the email. If you are uncertain about an enquiry that appears to be from the Pension Centre, contact the Pension Centre before responding to the enquiry or providing any personal information.

Updating survivor information after separation

If you are married or are living in a conjugal (common-law) relationship before you retire and for at least one year before you die, your spouse may be entitled to a survivor benefit. In the event of your death, an eligible survivor will receive a monthly payment of approximately half of your unreduced pension. To make a claim for survivor benefits, your survivor must immediately notify the Pension Centre upon your death.

Note that a separated spouse to whom you had been legally married continues to be eligible for survivor benefits until such time that you have obtained a legal divorce. The divorce certificate should be provided to the Pension Centre in order to ensure survivor benefits are processed promptly and accurately.

For more information on survivor benefits contact the Pension Centre or visit Pension and Benefits.

To ensure your survivor information is up to date, send copies of the following documents to the Pension Centre:

• If you are separated: the separation agreement
• If you are divorced: the divorce certificate or decree absolute
• If you are no longer in a common-law relationship: a letter advising the Pension Centre that the relationship has ended and the date this took effect

Include your pension number on all documents. If you do not know your pension number, include your Personal Record Identifier (PRI) instead.

Join the National Association of Federal Retirees

This article is brought to you by the National Association of Federal Retirees. The information expressed is solely that of the Association and does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Government of Canada.

What do 176,000 Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast have in common? They are all members of the National Association of Federal Retirees (Federal Retirees).

Federal Retirees is an advocacy organization consisting of active and retired members of the federal public service, Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federally appointed judges. Anyone who is eligible to collect a federal pension from these organizations, along with their partners and survivors, is eligible for membership. You don’t have to be retired to join.

With a solid 56-year tradition of strong and smart campaigns advocating for their members’ pensions and benefits, Federal Retirees works to support good policy that improves the lives of all Canadians in retirement. Membership also offers important savings through their partners, including travel insurance at members-only rates.

Join today by going to the National Association of Federal Retirees website or call toll-free at 1-855-304-4700 (in Ottawa at 613-745-2559).

The Federal Retirees looks forward to serving you.

Keep us informed

It is important to notify the Pension Centre if there are changes to the following:

• your mailing address (even if you are enrolled in direct deposit)
• your banking information
• your marital status (married, common-law, widowed, separated, divorced or single)
• the mailing address of your designated beneficiary
• the name and mailing address of a person to contact in the event of incapacity

Government of Canada Pension Centre contact information

For more information, visit Pension and benefits.

When communicating with the Pension Centre, it is important that you always provide your:

• pension number
• surname, first name and initials
• address (with postal code)
• telephone number (with area code)

Call Monday to Friday

• 1-800-561-7930 (toll-free)
• 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (your local time)

Outside Canada and the United States

• 506-533-5800 (collect calls accepted)
• 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Atlantic time)

Telephone teletype (TTY)

• 506-533-5990 (collect calls accepted)
• 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Atlantic time)

Facsimile

• 418-566-6298

In writing

Government of Canada Pension Centre Mail Facility
PO Box 8000
Matane QC  G4W 4T6

If you have comments or questions about our communication products, email us at PWGSC.PensionCentre-Centredespensions.TPSGC@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

Note

For security reasons, please do not provide personal information by email.

Some federal agencies, Crown corporations and territorial governments do not participate in the public service group benefit plans. Even if your former employer did not participate in all public service group insurance benefit plans, as a retired member you may be eligible to join these plans. To find out if you are eligible, please call the Pension Centre.

Disclaimer

Your Pension and Benefits Liaison newsletter is provided for information purposes only and is not a legal document on your rights and obligations. Should there be any discrepancy between the information in this document and that contained in the Public Service Superannuation Act and related regulations or other applicable laws, the legislative provisions will apply. Similarly, should there be any discrepancy between information in this document and that contained in the group insurance benefits plan provisions or insurance contracts, the plan provisions or insurance contracts will apply.