Transferring Pension Service from Other Teachers’ Pension Plans
If you taught in another province, you may be able to transfer your pension service from another teachers’ pension plan to the STRP.
Why transfer service?
More service means a larger STRP pension and, depending on when you started your teaching career, possibly an earlier unreduced retirement date.
When should you transfer your service?
Apply at least two years before your targeted retirement date. Transfers involve two pension plans and can take months to process. If you’re close to retirement, delays may even postpone when you can start collecting your pension. Costs also rise as you near retirement.
How much does it cost to transfer service?
Transferring service is not just simply the STRP accepting funds and service from the other pension plan. Each pension plan is different, with different pension benefit formulas and service values.
The STRP calculates the price of your service using actuarial assumptions including age, retirement date, interest rates, mortality and more. The other plan tells you how much money you have available to transfer.
If the amount of money you have from the other pension plan is equal to or more than the price of the service determined by STRP, you can transfer all of your service.
However, if it is less than the price of the service, you have a shortfall. This means you may:
• Elect to use the money you do have to transfer some of the service (not all), or
• Elect to use the money you do have, plus decide to use your own personal funds (cash payment or RRSP transfer) to make up the shortfall to transfer all of your service.
Here’s an example*:
You have 3.00 years of service elsewhere. That plan gives you $105,000 to transfer. The STRP values the service at $140,000. This leaves you with a $35,000 shortfall.
Your options:
• Transfer only 2.25 years using the $105,000.
• Transfer all 3.00 years by paying the $35,000 shortfall.
• Do nothing and leave the service in the other plan.
* Note: The above is just one example. The values calculated by the participating pension plans may vary significantly, and may be higher or lower, depending upon the assumptions used by each pension plan.
How do you start the process of transferring service?
Submit an STRP Appendix “A” Transfer Application Form – Importing.
Moving to another province to teach?
The same process exists if you move to teach out of province, with the STRP and the other pension plan calculation steps reversed.
We have Reciprocal Transfer Agreements with these pension plans:
• Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board
• British Columbia Teachers’ Pension Plan
• Canadian Teachers’ Federation
• Manitoba Teachers’ Retirement Allowances Fund
• New Brunswick Teachers’ Pension Plan
• Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation
• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board
• Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Superannuation Fund
• Retraite Quebec
• Saskatchewan Teachers’ Superannuation Commission
• Teachers’ Pension Plan Corporation, Newfoundland and Labrador