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Joining the Plan
- Members
- How your plan works
- Joining the Plan
Eligibility to join UPP
If you were earning pension benefits under your university’s prior plan when it converted to UPP, you automatically become a member of UPP on the day your university joins.
New and existing employees not enrolled in a prior plan
To join UPP, you must be in an eligible employment class, which varies by participating university. Please contact your university pension administration team for questions about your eligibility or to discuss new membership.
If you are in an eligible employment class, there are two ways to join the Plan:
Full-Time continuous employees automatically join the Plan
- the first day of the month (or first full pay period if paid bi-weekly) on or following the date you join a participating employer, or
- when you become full-time.
Other than continuous full-time employees
Employees of a participating employer who do not qualify as a full-time employee – can choose to join UPP on the first of any month after meeting one of the following conditions:
- you earn at least 35% of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) earnings limit, also known as the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE); or
- you work 700 or more hours in a year.
At least one of these conditions must be met in each of the last two consecutive calendar years before applying for membership.
The YMPE is a threshold set each year by the federal government, based on the average wage in Canada. We use it to calculate your pension and determine how much you need to contribute to the Plan.
Part-time employment
Switching from part-time employment to full-time employment
If you become a full-time employee in an eligible employment class, you are automatically enrolled in the Plan.
Switching from full-time employment to part-time employment
You cannot stop your contributions upon transitioning from full-time to part-time. Once you have started contributing to the Plan, you continue to make contributions until your employment ends.
If you are an “other than continuous full-time employee” you must meet the eligibility criteria described above before applying for membership.
Frequently asked questions
Can I transfer RRSP money into UPP?
You can only use funds from a registered retirement account, such as an RRSP, to pay for a transfer in “shortfall”. A shortfall occurs if you transfer in service from a prior employer’s pension plan and that plan does not have sufficient funds to satisfy the UPP cost.
Can I purchase or buy back additional years of service?
If you were not eligible to join UPP upon your hire date and joined at a later date once you became eligible, you cannot purchase service for the prior years where you were not contributing to the Plan. Your hire date and enrolment date will differ on your UPP documents to reflect this.
Can I transfer in service from a previous pension plan?
Under certain conditions, you may be able to transfer funds from your previous employer’s registered pension plan to UPP to earn UPP service.
Learn more about the benefits of transferring service to UPP and the eligibility conditions.
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