The work to create a new jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP) for the university sector has reached an important milestone with an updated agreement reached last week.

The University of Toronto, University of Guelph and Queen’s University, together with their faculty associations, the United Steelworkers (USW) and representatives of the non-unionized employees at the three universities (through the Ontario Association of Non-Unionized University Employees) – are working diligently to develop a new pension plan, The University Plan Ontario (UPP), that would cover employees at all three universities.

Once it is up and running, the UPP will be available to other Ontario universities as well. This new pension plan, which would be a jointly sponsored multi-employer pension plan (JSPP), is a type of defined benefit (DB) plan, and it represents a unique opportunity to reshape and sustain the retirement income system in the Ontario university sector.

We believe the adjustments agreed to last week will be welcomed by employees, while continuing to meet the long-term objective of sustainability of the UPP.
They include:

• Enhanced unreduced early retirement provisions for benefits earned under the UPP;
• Progressive plan design reflecting future CPP enhancements for benefits earned under the UPP;
• Changes to the proposed UPP contribution rates; and
• Agreement on the composition and attributes of the new Board of Trustees that will administer the UPP.

The full UPP update is available from the www.universitypension.ca website. The university also will hold information sessions on the new plan next month, and details on those sessions will be available soon.