Canadian Armed Forces pensions
Preparing for retirement (Active member): Reservists in the Regular Force

Learn about your pension benefits available to you upon your retirement.

On this page

• How a defined benefit pension plan works
• Understand how a defined benefit pension differs from an Registered Retirement Savings Plan
• Learn which pension benefits apply after release
• Review my estimated pension amount
• Understand what the bridge benefit is
• Pension is protected from inflation
• Understand health and dental plan options after becoming an annuitant
• Managing pension affairs with a general Power of Attorney

How a defined benefit pension plan works

The Reserve Force Pension Plan and Regular Force Pension Plan are a defined benefit pension plan. This means that your pension from the plan is defined by set formulas.

In the Reserve Force Pension Plan, these formulas use your pensionable earnings and the average Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings to calculate your lifetime and bridge pensions.

In the Regular Force Pension Plan, these formulas use your pensionable earnings and years of pensionable service to calculate your pension.

Understand how a defined benefit pension differs from an Registered Retirement Savings Plan

The following table identifies the differences between a defined benefit pension plan and a personal registered retirement savings plan (RRSP):

Table 1

Defined benefit pension plan	Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)
You know in advance how much you will get at retirement (pre-determined pension formulas)	You do not know in advance how much you will get at retirement
You have no control over investment decisions	You control all investment decisions
You do not bear most of the investment risk – the employer does	You bear the investment risk
You do not bear the risk of outliving your savings or of spending all your savings before you die	You bear the risk of outliving your savings or spending all your savings before you die
You bear the risk of outliving your savings or spending all your savings before you die	Your retirement income may be higher or lower depending on the investment performance of the funds and on the level of contributions you are willing to make You have some flexibility in how you wish to withdraw your investment

Learn which pension benefits apply after release

The benefits you receive at release depend on your pensionable service and/or Canadian Forces (CF) service, and on your age at release. These benefits are shown in the table below:

Table 2: With 2 or more years of pensionable service

You are entitled to…	If you…
an unreduced pension	have 25 years (9,131 days) of CF service are age 60 are age 55 with 30 years of pensionable service as a member of the Regular Force pension plan have 10 years of pensionable service and are disabled on release as a member of the Reserve Force pension plan have 2 years of pensionable service and are disabled on release or are released involuntarily as a result of a reduction in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and: have 20 years of pensionable service or are age 55 or older with 10 years of pensionable service
a reduced pension	are not eligible for an unreduced pension and are age 50 or older
a deferred pension	are not eligible for an unreduced pension Instead of a deferred pension, payable at age 60, you can choose: a reduced pension, anytime after age 50 or if you are younger than age 50, to transfer the value of your deferred pension to a locked-in retirement plan, to an insurance company to purchase an annuity, or to another registered pension plan (see Transfer Value)

With fewer than 2 years of pensionable service

You are entitled to a refund of your contributions plus interest.

Refer to the Scenarios to see examples of different situations at release.

You may also be entitled to severance pay at release (not applicable to reservists in the Reserve Force Pension Plan).

For more information, please refer to the Release life event.

Review my estimated pension amount

Your most recent personal Pension Benefits Statement provides you with a summary of your entitlements and their approximate value. This can be found on the My CAF Pension portal, which can help you estimate your yearly and monthly pension based on the information you enter.

Understand what the bridge benefit is

For information on the bridge benefit and how it impacts your pension, please visit the Bridge benefit page.

Pension is protected from inflation

Indexing is inflation protection which is applicable to all Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) pensions and is administered in accordance with the provisions set out in Part III of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act (CFSA) - Supplementary Benefits - and the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act (SRBA).

For information on indexing, please visit the Indexing page.

Understand health and dental plan options after becoming an annuitant

Visit the Insurance benefits page to find out what plans you may be eligible to participate in.

Managing pension affairs with a general Power of Attorney

If you wish for another person to manage some of your pension affairs, an original, notarized, or a certified true copy of the general power of attorney (POA) document bearing the original signature of the lawyer, notary, commissioner of oaths or justice of the peace must be sent to the Canadian Armed Forces Pension Centre. The person you name can then request address changes, direct deposit and choose a benefit on your behalf. However, a POA does not provide that person with the authority to change the recipient of a pension benefit or to change a beneficiary under the Supplementary Death Benefit (SDB) plan.

In order to protect plan members, the Canadian Armed Forces Pension Centre cannot accept photocopies, faxes or scans of legal documents. Original POA documents will be returned to you by mail.

If you simply wish to allow someone to make enquiries and receive information about your pension matters, but not make decisions on your behalf, you can provide the Canadian Armed Forces Pension Centre with a written consent to that effect.