Newly retired: Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension

Your benefit options vary depending on your years of service in the force, pensionable service, and your age when you leave the RCMP. If you have at least two years of service in the force, you may be entitled to one or more of the following options:

• Transfer Value
• Deferred Annuity
• Annual Allowance
• Immediate Annuity

If you have less than two years of service in the force, generally you are entitled to some combination of:

• Return of Contributions + interest or
• Cash Termination Allowance

You may also be eligible to transfer all or part of your accrued pension credits to the Public Service Pension Plan, the Canadian Forces Pension Plan, or to another pension plan through a Pension transfer agreement. A transfer is not dependent on the number of years of pensionable service you have to your credit.

For additional information, please see the Preparing for Retirement life event in the Active Member section of this website.

To choose your option, you must complete retirement documents and forward them to the Government of Canada Pension Centre. You can acquire the documents through the Pension Centre if you haven't already done so.

Please note that you must choose your benefit option within one year from the day you leave the RCMP. Failure to do so means you're considered to have chosen a Deferred Annuity. If you're a Civilian Member, you may choose at a later date to receive an Annual Allowance. Regular Members do not have this option.

As part of the Government of Canada's efforts to reduce paper consumption, the Pension Centre issues all payments by direct deposit. If you haven't already signed up for direct deposit, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Send a written request, along with a void cheque, to the Pension Centre. Please include your pension number on both documents.

If you live outside Canada, consult the Foreign direct deposit enrolment form to find a list of participating countries.

The basic pension formula is calculated as follows:

The RCMP Pension Plan benefit consists of two parts: a lifetime pension benefit and a bridge benefit.

A lifetime pension benefit is the permanent portion of the pension payable from the date the pension begins until death.

A bridge benefit is a temporary amount payable from the date the pension begins until age 65. The bridge benefit is roughly the same amount the member will receive under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) at age 65.

If you become entitled to CPP disability benefits, the bridge benefit ends immediately.

The formula for calculating the lifetime pension amount is:

Lifetime pension

When you retire, you'll receive a lifetime pension based on the average annual salary of your five consecutive years of highest paid service and your years of pensionable service, as follows:

If your pension includes part-time service, the benefits are adjusted to reflect the part-time assigned hours of work compared to the full-time hours of the position.

• Each period of full- or part-time service must be calculated individually then totalled
• Your years of pensionable service include any service you have bought back, whether or not fully paid for
• Your highest average annual salary is calculated for your five consecutive years of highest paid service, including any salary earned after completing 35 years of service and where, for periods of part-time service, it is based on an equivalent full-time salary
• If you are in receipt of an annual allowance, the unreduced annual pension amount is reduced by a factor based on your circumstances at discharge
• This benefit amount is coordinated with the benefit you'll receive from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and includes a "bridge benefit" paid until you begin receiving CPP (usually at age 65)

Bridge benefit

If you retire before age 65, you'll receive a bridge benefit in addition to the lifetime pension benefit. This temporary benefit helps to "bridge" your pension until age 65, when CPP or QPP begins or until you become entitled to CPP or QPP disability benefits, whichever comes first. The bridge benefit is calculated as follows:

Total pension

Your total pension (lifetime pension + bridge benefit) will be equal to 2% of your average salary.

With the required documentation in hand, the Pension Centre normally issues your first pension payment within 45 calendar days from the date of retirement.

Your monthly pension benefit is deposited into your bank account on the third last banking day of each month.

You can find information about the deductions that are or can be taken from your pension payment in the Pension Entitlement Information Package.

If you retire before age 65, you'll receive a bridge benefit in addition to your RCMP pension benefit. This temporary payment helps to "bridge" your pension until CPP begins at age 65. The bridge benefit will end before age 65 if you begin to receive CPP or QPP disability benefits.

Yes. Your pension is protected forever from losing its value as a result of inflation or increases in the cost of living. Your pension will be adjusted every January 1, based on increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

However, if you're re-employed by the RCMP and begin contributing to the RCMP Pension Plan, your monthly pension (including indexing) will end. This is because you cannot receive a pension and accumulate pensionable service under the RCMP Pension Plan at the same time.

For more information on the effects of re-employment, refer to the Re-employment after retirement ;  Retired members life event.

If you retire before paying all your installments for prior service, your pension will include all your service buyback, but the unpaid installments will be deducted from your monthly pension benefit amount.

When you retire, amounts still owing for a period of leave without pay will continue to be deducted from your monthly pension benefit. Information on payment options can be found in the Current service buyback section of the Pension Entitlement Information Package.

Similarly, you must pay any insurance benefit premiums or contributions still owing for a period of leave without pay. For further information, please contact RCMP National Pay Operations at 1 866 729-7293.

Your supplemental health care provided by the RCMP ends at retirement. If you are eligible to receive a RCMP pension benefit, you may apply for pensioner supplemental health care under the Public Service Health Care Plan for yourself and your eligible dependents.

You and your dependent's dental coverage ends when you retire. However, as a retired RCMP member who is eligible to receive a pension benefit, you can apply for pensioner dental coverage for yourself and your eligible child/dependents. The Public Service Pensioners' Dental Services Plan (PDSP) provides coverage for specific services and supplies that are not covered under a provincial health or dental care plan.

Your coverage under the RCMP Disability Income Insurance Plan administrated by Great West Life Insurance ends at retirement. Benefits under the plan are payable only after you have discharged from the RCMP. Claims submitted prior to discharge will be assessed and, if the definition of disability under the plan is met, benefits may be approved pending discharge. Claims may be submitted up to 6 months following your date of discharge.