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Important
To ensure you receive important information about the transition to UPP, please update your contact information including your mailing and email address with Laurier.
Tip: bookmark this page
This is a dedicated page for Laurier pension plan members, with the latest information and resources about UPP. We recommend you bookmark this page to get to know us and stay up to date.
Resources
Your new UPP pension service experience is coming soon.
Learn more about what this transition means for you.
On January 1, 2026, University Pension Plan (UPP) becomes the administrator and service provider for your Wilfrid Laurier University pension plan. This means you will receive pension-related service and support directly from UPP’s Member Services team instead of Laurier, as you currently do.
"On behalf of University Pension Plan, I'm thrilled to welcome Laurier members. At UPP, we are committed to delivering a secure, stable pension for life, investing with integrity and serving our members with care. Whether you are starting your career, planning for retirement, or enjoying your pension, you can rest assured that UPP’s pension experts will be here to support and guide you along your pension journey."
Barbara Zvan
President and Chief Executive Officer
Transition update
Preparing for your new UPP service experience
In November 2025, FSRA formally approved the conversion of the Wilfrid Laurier University Pension Plan to UPP. This means that effective January 1, 2026, eligible faculty and staff from Laurier and affiliated organizations will become the newest members of UPP.
If you are earning or receiving a pension or have a deferred benefit under the Laurier Plan, you will automatically become a member of UPP on that date. Pension benefits you earned under the Laurier Plan before the transition remain unchanged and will be paid by UPP, while benefits earned after the transition, if applicable, will be calculated under UPP’s benefit formula.
Starting January 1, 2026, UPP’s dedicated team of pension experts will provide you with proactive, personalized support. You will be able to reach UPP Member Services directly through a variety of channels, including phone and email. Visit this page again closer to the transition date for details on how to contact UPP.
Get up-to-date information about the transition to UPP
UPP and Laurier will keep you informed at each stage of the process. This page provides you with key information and resources to help you prepare for the transition. It will continue to be updated to include additional resources and other details. Please bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates and stay tuned for more information to come.
Stay connected: keep your contact info up to date
This fall, you will receive a letter from UPP providing you with more information about how we will communicate with you after the transition. To ensure you receive this letter and other important information about the transition to UPP, please make sure your contact information, including your mailing and email addresses, is up to date with Laurier:
- Active members: review in the Laurier LORIS Employee Dashboard
- Deferred members: email your update to [email protected]
- Retired members: review in the Laurier Pension Portal or email [email protected]
The myUPP Member Portal
In early 2026, you will gain access to the myUPP Member Portal, a secure, self-service platform where you can manage your personal pension information, run pension estimates, communicate with UPP, view and submit documents, and more.
More information about your myUPP Member Portal access will be available in the coming months.
Your UPP Benefits
As a UPP member, you benefit from a secure and predictable retirement income for life, personalized support, and expert investment management.
Here are some of the many advantages of being a UPP member. For all members, including retirees:
- Longevity: Members don’t have to worry about outliving their UPP pension—it is paid for life.
- Inflation protection (indexation): A valuable benefit designed to increase the amount of a monthly pension in retirement through cost-of-living adjustments. For the pension earned before joining UPP, the indexation provisions of the prior plan are honoured. The pension earned after joining UPP is subject to UPP’s funded conditional indexation.
- Survivor benefits: An important plan feature, these benefits help provide for members’ loved ones if they pass away, whether before or after retirement. For retirees, the survivor benefit pension option chosen under the prior plan will remain the same.
- Pension sustainability and transparency: UPP is committed to responsible investment practices and transparency in managing the plan.
- Expert member services: Members have access to a team of local pension experts who provide dedicated, personalized support.
- Online tools: Members benefit from additional services through the myUPP Member Portal, a secure, self-service platform where they can access pension information, communicate with UPP, view and submit documents, and more.
In addition, for active and deferred members:
- Matched contributions: After joining the Plan, UPP employers match 100% of members’ contributions.
- Career flexibility: Eligible members can move between participating employers and continue to build their pension without losing years of service.
How UPP works
Your plan is custom-built for the university sector, including special features to support you along your pension journey.
Thousands of members at universities across the province are working towards a common goal: lifelong, dependable retirement income with UPP. Watch this short video to learn how the Plan works and what it offers you as a member.
Get to know UPP
Get to know UPP—your pension partner for life
At University Pension Plan (UPP), we are committed to providing a sector-wide defined benefit pension plan that ensures lifelong retirement income for members, now and for generations to come. With over 41,000 members across five universities and 14 sector organizations, UPP is delivering on our mission of a secure, predictable pension for life—so members can retire with confidence. For more information about UPP’s rate of return explore our 2024 annual report here.
Strong value starts with good governance
UPP is jointly sponsored by representatives of our participating universities in equal partnership with member, union and faculty association representatives. Guided by clearly defined mandates, UPP’s Joint Sponsors, Board of Trustees, and Management work in concert to ensure the Plan is run efficiently, strategically, prudently, and in the best interest of all Plan members.
Our purpose-driven investment strategy
Our investment program has one goal – to deliver secure, stable pension income to our members today and tomorrow. We invest with sustainable pension security at the core of all we do.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Getting started with UPP
What isn't changing?
How you contribute to your pension
Your pension contributions will continue to be deducted by Laurier, who will report your contributions, pensionable service, and earnings information to UPP.
Applying for retirement
If you are an active member, you must notify Laurier, who will then prompt UPP to prepare your pension options package.
Other non-pension-related benefits
Additional employee benefits such as health, dental and life insurance will continue to be provided by Laurier, and its benefit carriers, and are not impacted by the pension transition to the UPP. Any mention of ‘benefits’ from UPP refers solely to your pension benefits.
What is changing?
As part of the process to convert the Laurier Plan to UPP, you received a package outlining the differences between the two plans. Please refer to this package for further details.
In the coming months, we will provide additional resources to help you understand how the Laurier Plan and UPP work together to deliver a secure, predictable, lifetime pension. Stay tuned for more updates.
I need to update my contact information, who should I speak to?
To ensure you receive important information about the transition to UPP, please make sure your contact information, including your mailing and email addresses, is up to date with Laurier:
- Active members: by reviewing in Laurier’s LORIS Employee Dashboard
- Deferred members: by emailing [email protected]
- Retired members: by reviewing in the Laurier Pension Portal or by emailing [email protected]
Who do I contact, and when, if I have question about my pension: Laurier or UPP?
UPP will assume pension administration and services for all members on January 1, 2026. Until then, please continue to contact Laurier’s Human Resources team for questions about your pension. Further details about the transition, including specific dates, will be shared by UPP and Laurier.
How will I contact UPP Member Services?
Beginning January 1, 2026, member services will transition to UPP. After the transition, you will be able to reach UPP Member Services through a variety of communication channels, including phone and email.
We’ll notify you once you gain access to the myUPP Member Portal, which offers accessible tools, information, and additional ways to get support from UPP’s Member Services team.
What if my pension-related event isn't complete before the transition?
If you initiate a pension-related event and it is not complete before the transition, rest assured you will receive direct support from UPP Member Services and Laurier’s Human Resources to ensure there is no disruption to this event.
For example, if you initiate your retirement and receive your pension options before the transition but have not submitted them before the transition, you will be able to submit any required information directly to UPP Member Services.
Where can I get more information about the transition to UPP?
During the consent process you received notices from Laurier with details about the transition to UPP. Please refer to these notices for more information and be sure to bookmark and visit this page to stay up to date as the conversion planning continues. Please contact Laurier Human Resources team at [email protected] if you need a duplicate copy of the notices.
In the coming months, we will provide additional resources to help you understand how the Laurier Plan and UPP work together to deliver a secure, predictable, lifetime pension. Stay tuned for more updates.
Already receiving a pension from Laurier?
I'm a retiree, will my pension be impacted?
If you are receiving a pension under the Laurier Pension Plan, you’ll receive the same pension from UPP. The UPP fund’s rate of return will be used from 2026 onwards for indexing adjustments to the Laurier money purchase pension.
Who do I talk to now about my pension? How do I reach them?
Until December 31, 2025, please continue to contact Laurier’s Human Resources team at [email protected].
After January 1, 2026, you can contact UPP’s Member Services team at 1 (833) 627-7877 or [email protected].
Planning to retire?
I’m planning to retire, who do I contact?
For now, and during the transition to UPP, you can continue to contact Laurier’s Human Resources team if you have questions about your pension. Until the transition is complete, Laurier remains your primary contact for your pension services.
If you are an active member, the first step of starting your pension whether before or after the transition to UPP, is to notify your employer of your decision to retire. Documentation and notice requirements vary by employee group, and you should consult Laurier’s Human Resources team on what these are.
If you submit your notice before January 1, 2026, Laurier will provide your retirement options. If your notice is submitted on or after January 1, 2026, UPP will provide your retirement options.
How your plan works
What contributions are required under UPP?
The amount you contribute to the plan each year is based on your pensionable earnings, the average YAMPE (a threshold set each year by the federal government) and UPP’s contribution rate. Your employer contributes an equal amount. Contributions flowing into the plan are invested by investment professionals bound by fiduciary duty to act in your best interests.
Learn more about how contributions work and explore the formula.
Can I make additional voluntary contributions to UPP?
No, UPP does not allow for additional voluntary contributions. Any members who have prior additional voluntary contributions and/or special lump-sum voluntary contributions held under the Laurier pension plan will have those amounts transferred to UPP. These amounts will be credited with interest based on UPP’s fund earnings after Laurier has joined UPP. The balance of your account(s) at termination of plan membership will be available as a one time lump sum, or be used to provide you with additional pension if you are retirement eligible.
How is my UPP pension calculated?
As a member of UPP, your pension is paid for life. The pension you receive is based on a formula that considers a few key components: Your best average earnings: average of your highest 48 months of pensionable earnings (which do not have to be consecutive) as a member, up to the maximum pension limit under the Income Tax Act.
Average YAMPE: average of the YAMPE established by the federal government in the last 48 months before you retire. Learn more about calculating your pension.
Your years of Pensionable Service: the amount of continuous service during which you’ve contributed to UPP, including any service you transferred in.
Please note: your pre-conversion pension is calculated using the terms of your prior pension and added to the pension accrued with UPP.
I work part-time. Is my UPP pension calculated differently?
Your pension is calculated using the same formula as a full-time member. The pension formula uses your average annualized pensionable earnings and your pensionable service.
Annualized earnings are earnings that you would earn in a year if you were working on a full-time basis. Learn more about calculating your pension.
Does UPP offer inflation protection?
Inflation protection is a valuable benefit designed to increase the amount of your monthly pension through a cost-of-living adjustment based on the increase in the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Laurier pension plan – The indexation provisions of the Laurier pension plan will still apply to your benefits earned under the Laurier pension plan. Please contact Laurier human resources for details.
UPP – When you retire and begin receiving your pension, the portion attributable to UPP benefits will be subject to funded conditional indexation. This means that any indexation adjustments will be determined by UPP’s Joint Sponsors. UPP’s target funded conditional indexation is 75% of the increase in CPI for Canada but may be less based on the Plan’s overall financial health and Funding Policy. Indexation of your UPP benefits is not guaranteed, meaning if an indexation adjustment is made in any given year, it does not necessarily mean an adjustment will be made in any future year.