COVID-19: Retraite Québec remains close to its clients

In order to limit the spreading of COVID-19, Retraite Québec suggests that you use our online services or that you contact us by telephone or email instead of coming to our offices in person. 

We wish to remind you that you can send your forms or documents via our Sending a document online service, which is complementary to our online services and available at all times.

You can reach us by:   

• Telephone
• Email:
  • Québec Pension Plan
  • Family Allowance
  • Public-sector pension plans (RREGOP, PPMP, etc.)
  • Pension plans of the private, municipal and university sectors, VRSPs, LIRAs or LIFs.

Should you at any time require more information on our different services, follow us on social media, such as Facebook  and LinkedIn .

Given the exceptional circumstances that COVID-19 engenders, Retraite Québec recommends you contact us via our online services, or by telephone or email.

At our points of service, we must ensure that your state of health does not pose a threat to other clients or employees. Therefore, our employees will clean the counter space after responding to each client. If you decide to come to one of our offices in person, please read the government instructions and hygienic measures posted at the entrance.

We will also ensure that the service you request is an essential service.

You must respect the isolation period recommended by public health officials. To ensure the security and health of our clients and employees, you cannot show up at one of our points of service until your isolation period has ended.

Yes, waiting times may be longer given that our employees are also subject to government directives and certain employees may be affected by school and daycare closings or required to work remotely. Rest assured that we are taking the necessary steps to continue offering you the high-quality service you expect.

Despite the current situation, Retraite Québec wishes to confirm that payment of benefits will be maintained according to scheduled payment dates. There is no need to worry about the matter.

If you receive your benefits by cheque, why not sign up for direct deposit?

Rest assured that despite the current situation, Retraite Québec can confirm that it will ensure that the electronic payment of benefits is made on the scheduled payment dates.

However, if you receive your payment by cheque, it may not be delivered to you or it may arrive late, depending on your country of residence. Consult the list  of areas where mail delivery has been suspended or delayed.

Important! During the COVID-19 pandemic, sign up for direct deposit to receive your pension securely and on time.

Despite the current situation, the administrator of your supplemental pension plan must take the necessary steps to maintain your pension payments according to scheduled payment dates. If you have any questions regarding the matter, please contact the Direction des régimes complémentaires de retraite by telephone ou email.

In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, temporary easing measures have been implemented to assist administrators of supplemental pension plans. Once parliamentary proceedings resume, the measures may be subject to specific legislative provisions.

With regard to supplemental pension plans administered by Retraite Québec following the bankruptcy of your employer or an order or judgment rendered under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, we wish to confirm that the payment of pensions will be made according to scheduled payment dates

Despite the current situation, Retraite Québec wishes to confirm that payments for Family Allowance, the Supplement for Handicapped Children and the Supplement for Handicapped Children Requiring Exceptional Care will be made according to scheduled payment dates. You do not have to worry about the matter.

If you receive your benefits by cheque, why not sign up for direct deposit?

Retraite Québec suggests that you file any new application for a pension or benefits online. If you require assistance, you can call us, and a member of our staff will assist you.

If you are receiving the financial assistance, you will receive the Family Allowance annual notice by the end of July 2020. The notice will give you the amounts that you will receive from July 2020 to June 2021. The Family Allowance amounts indicated on the notice are based on certain criteria, in particular, your family income as entered on line 275 of your 2019 Québec income tax return.

If your family income is not yet available when we send your annual notice, Retraite Québec will pay you a temporary amount for a maximum of 3 months, that is, until September  2020. The calculation of the temporary income is based on the most recent data Revenu Québec has on your family income, which is the combined income of both spouses, and your family's current composition.

Once Revenu Québec has sent us the information regarding your family income for 2019, we will calculate and pay you the amounts to which you are entitled. If your family income for 2019 is different from that used to calculate your temporary payment, you could receive an additional amount or you may have to repay us an amount. If applicable, you will receive a new notice providing you with the information. Therefore, you and your spouse must produce your income tax return by 1 June 2020 at the latest.

Following a change in your family situation (union, a change in or end of custody, etc.), you received a notice informing you of a change in your allowance, which can affect the amount to which you are entitled. Should you receive any overpayments, you will be required to repay them.

We understand that making repayments during the COVID-19 pandemic may be difficult. In order to ease the burden on your financial situation, note that you can contact Retraite Québec at any time to determine a repayment method and make an arrangement for repaying your debt.

Contact us by telephone from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Québec region: 418 643 3381
• Montréal region: 514 864 3873
• Toll-free : 1 800 667 9625

We understand that making repayments during the COVID 19 pandemic may be difficult. In order to ease the burden on your financial situation, note that you can contact Retraite Québec at any time to determine a repayment method and make an arrangement for repaying your debt.

Contact us by telephone from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Québec region: 418 643 3381
• Montréal region: 514 864 3873
• Toll-free: 1 800 667 9625

No, the deadline will not be extended. However, the rules have been temporarily eased with regard to applications for buy-backs.

Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, persons who are unable to obtain help from their employer to complete the Application for buy-back   (form 727A) can complete it themselves and send it directly to Retraite Québec, regardless of whether it is incomplete. In addition, the Attestation de période de rachat  (form 728; French only), that must be completed by the employer concerned and normally enclosed with each application for a buy-back, is not required either.

Retraite Québec will contact the employers concerned once it is possible to do so in order to obtain all the information required to process the applications for buy-backs.

The date on which Retraite Québec receives the application for a buy-back form is the date on which the application begins being processed, and will be used to calculate the cost of the requested buy-back. The current situation will not result in any increase in the cost of a buy-back.

Please note that the easing described above is temporary. It applies only during the confinement period prescribed by the government.

In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have implemented a temporary measure regarding voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSPs). Once parliamentary proceedings resume, the measure may be subject to specific legislative provisions.

The measure provides for a 3‑month extension of the deadlines granted to VRSP administrators to:

• have financial reports prepared;
• submit annual information returns (AIR) and the required documents to Retraite Québec.

Therefore, the deadline for VRSP administrators to submit the AIR as at 31 December 2019 to Retraite Québec has been extended to 30 September 2020.

For additional information, contact the Direction des régimes complémentaires de retraite by telephone or by email at rcr@retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca. 

Yes.

Retraite Québec has taken all steps necessary to ensure applications are processed in due time. However, delays may be greater in cases where employees responsible for processing files are unable to make it to work. The time required for Retraite Québec to obtain additional medical documents from professionals in the health sector may also increase. The documents come from hospitals, medical clinics and other government agencies that are also facing the same challenges as Retraite Québec regarding the repercussions of COVID-19.

If the person processing your file is not isolated from work due to COVID-19, you can contact him or her. Should that person be absent, you will be informed via a message on his or her voicemail.

Retraite Québec suggests that you complete the form available on our website and mail it to us. Although our points of service have remained open, we recommend you use the postal service when filing applications; we also recommend you use the telephone or our website should you require any information. If you are required to respect the isolation period suggested by public health authorities, we ask that you do not go to one of our points of service to ensure the security of other clients and our employees.

In 2020, you can accrue employment earnings up to $16 651 without any consequence on your disability benefit under the Québec Pension Plan.

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit amounts a person receives are not considered employment earnings. Therefore, the benefit has no impact on the maximum employment earnings that you can receive without affecting your entitlement to your disability benefit under the Québec Pension Plan.

Given the exceptional circumstances, we have eased the rules in effect regarding the maximum employment earnings for beneficiaries of a disability pension or the additional amount for disability. Therefore, in 2020, you can accrue employment earnings up to $16 651 without any consequence on your disability benefit under the Québec Pension Plan.

Should your appointment be cancelled, a Retraite Québec employee will notify you.

In order to have your appointment with a specialist cancelled, contact the person who sent you the letter informing you of your medical assessment. Do not call your physician directly to cancel your appointment. If you no longer have the name of the person who sent you the letter, please call an agent who will transfer you to the correct person.

Yes, it may be postponed. If so, an agent from Retraite Québec will contact you.

Retraite Québec may be required to cancel certain medical assessments. Should your assessment be cancelled, we will take all necessary action to rectify the situation and ensure that we can continue processing your application.

In general, several deadlines for providing documents to Retraite Québec or members have been extended by three months. See the following table for further details.

The extension applies to all the deadlines that had not expired by 12 March 2020, but which would have expired in 2020.

Impacts on a plan whose fiscal year ended on 31 December 2019

Yes, the deadline in that case has also been extended.

We do not expect to extend the deadlines for statements of cessation of membership to members, given that upon the loss of employment, former employees may need their funds. Although retirement savings are generally locked‑in, some exceptions apply. It is therefore important to not to extend the deadlines so that employee can access those funds.

Yes.

Yes.

The declining financial markets have resulted in a significantly decreasing degree of solvency over the last few months. Without this temporary measure, the pension fund is at risk of paying out more than the current financial situation can allow for.

The measure is designed to:

• protect members and beneficiaries who remain in the plan, by halting payment of transfer values that are too high
• maintaining the possibility for members to have their benefits transferred out of the plan, thus providing any needed access to liquidity through Life Income Fund (LIF) withdrawals.

The measure applies to all payments between 17 April 2020 and 31 December 2020.

Yes.

The actuary must take into account, in particular, the real rate of return of the pension fund, changes in interest rates on a solvency basis and contributions that were made since the plan's last complete actuarial valuation.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to provide the estimate unless Retraite Québec requests it.

The pension committee must contact those members to explain that the rules regarding payments have changed. A member in that situation should then confirm with the pension committee whether he or she still wishes to have the transfer made in light of the fact that the degree of solvency used for the payment has changed.

Should the 60-day deadline granted to the pension committee for the transfer have already expired, the deadline can be extended.

Yes. It will allow Retraite Québec to continue monitoring the financial situation of pension plans as at 31 December 2019.

Until the most recent degree of solvency has been sent to Retraite Québec through an actuarial valuation or statement covering the plan's financial situation, the most recent estimated degree of solvency in 2020 must be used for paying benefits to members and beneficiaries.

It is compulsory.

Residual benefits are amounts (including interest) to which members or beneficiaries are entitled but which could not be paid to him or her when the initial payment was made.

Example:

The value of a member's benefits at the end of his or her active membership, on 5 April 2020, is $10 000. The pension committee informs the member that, in conformity with the last paragraph under section 66 of the Supplemental Pension Plans Act, his or her benefits will be refunded. On 15 April 2020, the last notice, referred to in section 119.1 of the Act and sent to Retraite Québec, indicated a degree of solvency of 80%. However, the degree of solvency as at 31 March 2020 was 70%.

The member will receive an initial payment of $7000. The residual benefits total $3000, and, once paid into the fund, they will be refunded to the member. (To make this example simpler, we have not included any interest.)

The provision applicable to initial payments is the most advantageous.

However, if the plan text so provides, a member or beneficiary can receive all or part of the payment of the balance of the value of the benefits that was not paid to him or her in the initial payment (residual benefits). In such a case, the residual benefits must first be paid into the pension fund.

Example:

The plan provides that a member is entitled to the highest amount between the amount he or she will receive under the temporary measure or under the permanent measure. If the permanent measure is applied, the degree of solvency is 80%. If the temporary measure is applied, it is 70%. The value of the member's benefits is $100 000.

During the initial payment, the member will receive $70 000. The residual benefits are $10 000, and once that amount has been paid into the pension fund, the residual benefits can then be paid to the member. (To make this example simpler, we did not include any interest.)

No. The Regulation respecting supplemental pension plans was amended in this respect in 2018. Since 1 April 2018, the entire amount owed to him or her must be paid to the spouse, with interest, regardless of the plan's degree of solvency. The temporary measure does not change the rule.

No.

No.

It is the date we must use to calculate the value of the benefits, that is, most often, the date on which a person ended his or her active membership in a plan, the date of the transfer request for the value of the benefits or the date on which the person dies.

Example:

A member's active plan membership ends on 1 May 2020. A statement of cessation of membership on which the value of his or her benefits as at 1 May 2020 is indicated must be provided to him or her.

The plan provides that the member can request the transfer of the value of his or her benefits at any time.

• The member requests the transfer of the value of his or her benefits within 90 days after receiving his or her statement of cessation of membership, more specifically on 10 August 2020. The transfer will be carried out based on the value of his or her benefits on 1 May 2020 and the degree of solvency as at 30 April 2020 (the last working day of the month preceding 1 May 2020).
• The member requests the transfer of the value of his or her benefits more than 90 days after receiving his or her statement of cessation of membership, more specifically on 20 October 2020. The transfer will be carried out based on the value of his or her benefits on 20 October 2020 and the degree of solvency as at 30 September 2020 (the last working day of the month preceding 20 October 2020).

Please note that section 143 of the Supplemental Pension Plans Act was amended on 22 February 2018. Since then, we must use the date on which the value of the member's benefits was determined to obtain the applicable degree of solvency.

When the real rate of return of the pension fund cannot be determined, it must be estimated based on the best information available.