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When can you Receive Your Pension Under RREGOP and how Much Will you Receive?

You will be able to receive your unreduced pension under the Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan (RREGOP) when you meet one of the following three requirements:

  • You are at least age 61.
  • You have accrued at least 35 years of service.
  • You are at least age 60, and the sum of your age and your number of years of service equals 90: that is what is called the 90 factor.

What does year of service mean?

You are credited one year of service for each year you work, except for your first and last years of work. For example, if you retire in the middle of your last year, you will be credited one half-year of service. Those years of service are called service credited for eligibility purposes. You can verify them on your Statement of Participation under RREGOP available in My Account.

To calculate your pension, the method used is not the same as the one to calculate your number of years of service. You are credited one full year for calculation purposes when you work full-time throughout the year (for full-time teachers, a school year gives entitlement to one year of service). You can accrue a maximum of 40 years of service for calculation purposes. Even if you did not accrue 40 years of service, you will no longer be able to contribute to RREGOP after 30 December of the year during which you turn 71.

If you had periods of absence without pay, you may be able to buy them back. For more information on the buy-back of periods of absence, consult the What should you do for your retirement if you take parental leave or a leave without pay? page.

Johanne's example

To better understand what years of service credited for calculation purposes are, let's take a look at Johanne's case:

  • In 2022, she worked part-time, 21 hours a week. It corresponds to 60% of a full-time employment. She was credited 0.6 years of service.
  • In 2023, she worked full-time but was absent without pay for three months to travel. In this case, she was credited 0.75 years of service.
  • Lastly, in 2024, she was still working full-time but retired on 30 June. She was credited 0.5 years of service.

How is your pension calculated?

It is calculated according to a formula based on your years of service credited for calculation purposes and your salary. Therefore, we obtain two amounts that correspond to:

  • the pension you could receive until age 65;
  • the pension you could receive as of age 65 and for the rest of your life.

Calculation of the pension until age 65

To calculate your pension under RREGOP until age 65:

  • your number of years of service (maximum of 40 years) credited for calculation purposes is multiplied by 2%;
  • the result is then multiplied by your average salary, that is, the average salary of the five years during which you earned the most money.

Those five years do not need to be consecutive. If you work part-time or do not work the entire year, the salary that counts is the same as if you had worked full-time. To summarize, the more you accrue years of service credited for calculation purposes and the higher your salary, the higher your pension will be.

Johanne's example

Let's take Johanne's case again. She retired at age 61, therefore, she is entitled to an unreduced pension. In fact, Johanne could already receive it at age 60 due to the 90 factor, but she preferred to continue working to have a higher pension. To calculate her pension exactly, she has 32 years of service, and the average salary used to calculate her pension is $50 000. Therefore, 32 x 2% x $50 000 must be calculated. This means that, as of age 61, Johanne will receive a pension of $32 000 a year, that is, $2667 a month until she turns 65.

Calculation of the pension as of age 65

A reduction is applied to the pension you were receiving before age 65 because age 65 is also the age at which you can receive your Old Age Security pension and 100% of your pension under the Québec Pension Plan.

To calculate the decrease of your pension under RREGOP as of age 65:

  • your number of years of service (maximum of 35 years) credited for calculation purposes is multiplied by 0.7%;
  • the result is then multiplied by the lowest of the following amounts:     
    • the average of your salaries of the last five years; or
    • the average of the maximum pensionable earnings of those years.

The maximum pensionable earnings (MPE) are the maximum employment earnings on which you are contributing under the Québec Pension Plan for a given year.

Johanne's example

What will Johanne receive? In her case, her average salary of the last five years is $50 000. Her average salary is taken into account because it is lower than the average MPE. Therefore, 32 x 0.7% x $50 000 is calculated. Her pension will decrease by $11 200 at age 65, and she will receive $20 800 a year as of that age.

If Johanne had continued to work and had reached, for example, 38 years of service, her pension would have been calculated considering those 38 years, but the decrease at age 65 would have been calculated as of 35 years of service.

This means that after 35 years of service, you accrue 2% of average salary for each year that is added, without a reduction of 0.7% being applied as of age 65.

The most important amount for the financial planning of your retirement is that of your pension as of age 65 because that is the one you will be receiving for the longest time. It could be worth it to wait until you turn that age to apply for your pension under the Québec Pension Plan (QPP). If you wait longer for your pension under the QPP and your Old Age Security pension to be higher, plan for savings to compensate for the decrease in your pension under RREGOP. Keep that in mind when you plan your withdrawal plan!

Additional information on the calculation of your pension

Here are specifications on the salaries taken into account in the calculation of your pension:

  • The salary paid for overtime is not part of the calculation of your average salary.
  • If you are still working after 40 years of service, your salary will count in your average salaries. Therefore, even if you are no longer contributing to RREGOP, your pension can increase a little bit.
  • If you received a retroactive amount because a salary increase was paid to you later, the amount is taken into account in the year during which you should have received that salary.
  • Certain premiums can be used to calculate your pension. Consult your work conditions for more details on the matter.
    • The pensionable salary for each year is limited to comply with fiscal rules. For example, for RREGOP, the limit is $212 789 in 2025. Therefore, there is no limit for most people.

Estimate of your pension

Finally, to have an estimate of your pension before and after age 65, consult your Statement of Participation under RREGOP in My Account. You can also carry out a simulation of your retirement income with CompuPension. It will help you make your decision, which will be time well spent!

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