Glossary

30 Plus Pension Credit

Number of Pension Credits earned over 30 Credits.

60 Month Guarantee Option

Is one of the pension options available to members of the plan, where a member does not have a Spouse or his/her Spouse waives the right to the survivor pension. A member will receive a pension for his/her lifetime with a minimum guarantee of 60 monthly pension payments. Should a member die before the 60 month payments are completed, the remaining benefits are paid to the designated
beneficiary on file or to the member’s estate, if there is no designated beneficiary on record.

Active Member

Is a Vested Member who is still working in covered employment and on whose behalf pension contributions are being remitted to the plan.

Actuarial Equivalent

Equivalent value when calculated on the basis of mortality tables and interest rates established by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

Actuarial Valuation

A report prepared by the actuary to determine the required contributions that must be paid into a defined benefit plan and to determine if the present fund is sufficient to cover the present accrued
liabilities.

Actuary

A professionally trained specialist in the pension and insurance fields who advises Executive Directors on such matters as plan funding and design.

Beneficiary

The person you have named in a signed document to receive a benefit on your death. This document must be filed with the Pension Plan office.

Break in Past Service

A break in Past Service occurs when a member, prior to his Contribution Date, was not a member of a Participant local union, or not working in Covered Employment for one calendar year. Having a Break in Past Service results in the cancellation of any years of Past Service Credit accrued prior to the break.

CPP

Canada Pension Plan

C/QPP

Canada/Quebec Pension Plan

CRA

Canada Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada and Canada Customs and Revenue Agency).

Collective Agreement

Contract between Local Unions and Employers governing wages, pension contributions, benefits and working conditions.

Commuted Value

The amount of an immediate lump-sum payment estimated to be equal in value to a future series of pension payments.

Contribution Date

The first day of the month in the first year that a Contributing Employer submits at least 300 hours of contributions on your behalf.

Contributing Employer

The employer becomes a Contributing Employer of the Pension Fund upon signing a collective agreement with the Local Union.

Contribution Rate

The contribution rate is the hourly rate contributed towards your pension, which is negotiated between the Local Union and the Contributing Employer of the Pension Fund upon signing a collective agreement.

Covered Employment

Working for an employer covered by an Agreement negotiated with the Labourers’ International Union or the Trustees, which requires contributions to the Plan.

Deferred Vested

A Vested Participant who is under age 55 and has no pension contributions sent into the Plan on their behalf for at least 24 months, or a Vested Member who has terminated participation in the Plan and the Commuted Value of their pension has not been transferred to a locked-in RRSP.

Defined Benefit Plan

A defined benefit is a plan in which the benefit on retirement is determined by a set formula(s) that takes into account age, years of credited service and contributions. This type of plan clearly defines the amount of retirement income to be paid to the member of the plan at a certain time, such as at age 65.

Eligible Spouse (pre-retirement)

Definition of eligible spouse varies according to the province where you last worked with a Contributing Employer to LPF. The following chart is a summary of the definitions for each province.

Ontario and Prince Edward Island“Spouse” means, except where otherwise indicated in the PBA, either of two persons who:

1. are married to each other, or

2. are not married to each other and are living together in a conjugal relationship, 

i. continuously for a period of not less than three years, or
ii. in a relationship of some permanence, if they are the parents of a child as set out in section 4 of the Children’s Law Reform Act 
Nova Scotia“Spouse”, means either of two persons who:

1. are married to each other,

2. are married to each other by a marriage that is voidable and has not been annulled by a declaration of nullity,

3. have gone through a form of marriage with each other, in good faith, that is void and are cohabiting or, where they have ceased to cohabit, have cohabited within the twelve-month period immediately preceding the date of entitlement,

4. are domestic partners within the meaning of Section 52 of the Vital Statistics Act, or

5. not being married to each other, are cohabiting in a conjugal relationship with each other, and have done so continuously for at least:

i. three years, if either of them is married, or
ii. one year, if neither of them is married;
New Brunswick“Spouse” means either of two persons who:

1. are married to each other;

2. are married to each other by a marriage that is voidable and has not been avoided by a declaration of nullity, or

3. have gone through a form of marriage with each other in good faith that is void and have cohabited within the preceding year;

“Common-law partner”:  The person who is not married to the member but has cohabited with him or her in a conjugal relationship continuously for a period of at least 2 years, immediately before the relevant time. 
Newfoundland & Labrador“Spouse”, the person who:

1. is married to the member; or

2. is married to the member by a marriage that is voidable and has not been annulled by a declaration of nullity; or

3. In good faith, has gone through a form of marriage with the member that is void and is cohabitating or has cohabitated with the member within the preceding year

“Cohabitating Partner”:  The person who is cohabitating or has cohabitated with the member within the preceding year and has cohabitated continuously with the member in a conjugal relationship for:

i. In relation to a member who has a Spouse, at least 3 years, provided the person is not the Spouse of the member; or
ii. In relation to a member who does not have a Spouse, at least 1 year

Eligible Spouse (retirement date spouse)

If the member had a Spouse or common-law Spouse when he retired and started receiving his pension,
and he elected the 60% Joint and Survivor or the 100% Joint and survivor option, then that person is
considered to be a retirement-date Spouse and, thus eligible for any Joint and Survivor benefits that
were elected at the time of retirement.

If after the member retires there is a separation or divorce, the retirement-date Spouse would still
qualify as the eligible Spouse for any Joint and Survivor benefits payable upon the pensioner’s death.

If the member remarries after retirement the new Spouse is not eligible for any Joint and Survivor benefits
payable upon the pensioner’s death.

FSRA

Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario

Future Service Credit

For every 300 hours worked and remitted to the Plan on your behalf, you will earn 1/4 (0.25) year of Future Service Credit.

Initiation Date

The date a Participant joins the Union, according to the records of the Local Union, or records of the Labourers’ International head office in Washington.

Joint & Survivor Pension

A pension payable until the death of both the member and his or her spouse. This type of pension is required in all Canadian jurisdictions to be provided as an option at the time of a member’s retirement. The amount of reduction depends on both the member’s age and the age of his or her Spouse at the time the pension begins.  The benefit ensures that if the member dies before the Spouse, he/she will receive 60% or 100% of the amount of pension the member was receiving for the remainder of his/her lifetime.  

Locked-In

Once you are vested in a Pension Plan, your benefits become locked-in. Locked-in means that the funds must be used to provide a pension at retirement.

Marriage Breakdown Valuation

The value of a couple’s assets upon the ending of their marriage, either by separation or by divorce.

Member

You become a Member of the Plan as soon as you complete 1,200 hours (1 year) of Future Service Credit and your Contributing Employer has remitted the hours to the Plan on your behalf (same as Participant).

New Formula

Amount of monthly pension benefit calculated based on hours worked on and after January 1, 1999, at a contribution rate in excess of the Required Contribution Rate.

Non-Contributory Pension Plan

Plan that is totally funded by the employers; employees do not contribute to the plan.

Non-Resident

A Non-Resident of Canada for tax purposes, is one who lives outside of Canada throughout the tax year, or who stays in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year.

NR4

A Canada Revenue Agency tax form for withholding, remitting and reporting income tax for non-residents of Canada receiving income from a Canadian source.

NR5

A Canada Revenue Agency tax form used by a non-resident of Canada to apply for a reduction in the amount of non-resident tax that is held from Canadian income sources.

Past Service Credit

Is credit that is accumulated prior to the date the first pension contribution was remitted into the Plan on your behalf. Past Service Credit may be earned through payment of your Union dues, or work with an Employer that subsequently became a Contributing Employer to the Plan. If your Contribution Date is after January 1, 1988 no Past Service Credit will be awarded.

Pension Adjustment (PA)

The amount the employer has contributed to the Fund on your behalf during the calendar year.

Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund (PBGF)

To guarantee payment of certain benefits in respect of employment in Ontario in the event a pension plan is wound up. Multi-Employer Pension Plans are not covered by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund.

Pension Credit

Is the total of your Past Service Credit and your Future Service Credit.

Portability

The ability to transfer your pension.

Preserved Benefit Rate

Contribution Rate as of January 1, 1997, less 10¢ allocated to the Thirty and Fifty-Five Pension and 2¢ allocated to the Sixty and Twenty-Five Pension, (if applicable), plus a 20% increase.

Prorated

To divide or distribute proportionally.

Quarter of Pension Credit

Each 300 hours worked and sent into the Pension Fund on a Participant’s behalf.

RRSP

Registered Retirement Savings Plan

Reciprocal Agreement

The agreement between the LiUNA Pension Fund and their Western counterparts.

Self Payment

You can top-up your Pension Credits by making payments on your own. If you work 300 hours or more, but under 1,200 hours in a calendar year you can top-up your hours to 1,200 hours. If you work less than 300 hours in a calendar year you can top-up to 300 hours. A Self-Payment is tax deductible.

SC

Service Canada

SIP & P

Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures – a document drafted with investment consultants, which must be in compliance with regulatory requirements and is to be reviewed annually by Trustees.

T4A

A Canada Revenue Agency tax form that is a statement of pension, retirement, annuity and other income.

TD1

Personal tax credits return – a form provided by the Canada Revenue Agency, which when completed for pensioners will instruct the Plan on how much income tax is to be withheld.

Transfer Ratio

The ratio of the total assets to the Wind-up liabilities, and represents the portion of the value of benefits that would be paid on Wind-up.

Trust

A legal title to property held by one person, for the benefit of another.

Valuation

See Actuarial Valuation (above).

Vested/Vesting

Being entitled to a pension benefit when you retire. You are Vested when your Pension Credits become locked-in.  

WSIB

Workplace Safety & Insurance Board

YMPE

Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings – YMPE is a figure set by the Federal Government to determine contribution and benefit amounts to Canada Pension Plan. This figure changes annually.