Regulatory amendments made to the provisions of the Superannuation Plan for the Members of the Sûreté du Québec (SPMSQ)
Changes to your pension plan
Order in Council 767-2018 dated 13 June 2018 confirmed the provisions of the Superannuation Plan for the Members of the Sûreté du Québec (SPMSQ), which were amended further to a general agreement entered into on 24 May 2017 by the Gouvernement du Québec and the Association des policières et policiers provinciaux du Québec.
The main amendments are as follows:
Moreover, the SPMSQ pension committee approved the updated member and employer contribution rates, as well as the tariff schedule for service buy‑backs.
Inclusion of certain salary adjustments
Effective date: 1 April 2017
Three types of salary adjustments provided for under the agreement are included in the pensionable salary:
- salary adjustments related to the retention of members assigned to patrol duty;
- salary adjustments related to specialities;
- salary adjustments related to supervision.
These salary adjustments are payable retroactive to 1 April 2017.
Increase of the rate of reduction
Effective date: 1 January 2018
On 1 January 2018, the rate of reduction due to early payment of an immediate pension increased from 3% to 5% per year of early payment for years of service after 31 December 2017 only.
Distribution of plan costs and administration costs
Effective date: 1 January 2020
Plan costs will be divided as follows:
- For years of service from 2007 to 2019, 1/3 of plan costs are payable by members and 2/3 are payable by employers;
- For the 2020 year of service, 39% of plan costs are payable by members and 61% are payable by employers;
- For the 2021 year of service, 45% of plan costs are payable by members and 55% are payable by employers;
- For the 2022 year of service and all years thereafter, plan costs will be divided equally (50%-50%) between members and employers.
Administration costs will be divided in the same way as plan costs.
Member contribution rate
Effective date: 1 January 2018
The member contribution rate remains the same in 2018. The rate is therefore:
- 8% of pensionable earnings, up to the basic Québec Pension Plan (QPP) exemption;
- 6.2% on the portion of pensionable earnings that exceeds the basic QPP exemption, up to the maximum pensionable earnings (MPE);
- 8% of pensionable earnings that exceeds the MPE.
Tariff schedule for service buy backs
Effective date: 1‑January‑2018
The tariff schedule used to calculate the cost of a service buy-back for which the application is received more than six months after the end of the absence has been modified for the following types of buy‑backs:
- absence without pay;
- parental leave buy‑back.
The tariff schedule used depends on the date on which Retraite Québec receives the application for a buy-back, that is, before 1 January 2018 or on 1 January 2018 or after. The rate also varies according to when the absence occurred.
For more information on tariff schedules, consult the document entitled Tariff schedules for certain service buy‑backs.