Working past age 65: Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension
The following questions and answers provide information about a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Pension Plan member who continues to work after 65 years of age.
You may want to know…
Do you continue to contribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Plan after reaching age 65?
Yes. If you remain employed by the RCMP, you must continue contributing to the pension plan until your retirement date or to the end of the calendar year in which you reach 71 years of age. The salary and service accrued after age 71 will not be included in the calculation of your pension.
Your contributions continue even after you reach the maximum pensionable service of 35 years, but at a lower rate of one percent of your salary. This lower contribution amount ensures Protection from Inflation for your future pension. Although you will not accrue additional years of pensionable service after reaching 35 years, the salary paid during this period may be used in the calculation of the best consecutive 5-year average salary on which your pension will be based.
How are Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Plan benefits coordinated with the Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan?
The Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan coordination ensures that employees don't have to set aside a greater proportion of their salary for retirement savings. Your RCMP pension benefits include a lifetime pension and a temporary bridge benefit. This benefit is payable until the first of the month following your 65th birthday or immediately if you begin receiving disability benefits. If you're still working at age 65, the bridge benefit will not be paid upon retirement. Please see reaching age 65 and retirement income sources for more information about the coordination of plans.
If you begin receiving retirement benefits from Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan, will your Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Plan contributions change?
No. Your RCMP Pension Plan contributions will not change as they're not dependent upon whether you pay Canada Pension Plan (CPP) / Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) contributions or whether you receive CPP/ QPP benefits.
If you continue working past age 65 and you retire at age 71, is your pension calculated using the same formula as for a plan member retiring at an earlier age?
Yes. Your RCMP pension will be calculated using the same formula. Your pension amount is made up of two components: 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 or until you become entitled to CPP or QPP disability benefits, whichever occurs first. The bridge benefit is roughly the same amount the member will receive under the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan ( CPP or QPP) at age 65. Typically, the bridge benefit ends at age 65.
The basic pension formula is calculated as follows:
2% x Your years of pensionable service (maximum 35 years) x Your highest average salary (for your best 5 consecutive years of service)
The RCMP Pension Plan benefit consists of two parts: a lifetime pension benefit and a bridge benefit.
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.
The basic formula for the unreduced annual pension amount payable from the RCMP Pension Plan is:
1.375Footnote 1%
x Your years of pensionable service (maximum 35 years)
x Your highest average salary up to the average maximum pensionable earnings (AMPE)
+
2.0%
x Your years of pensionable service (maximum 35 years)
x Your highest average salary in excess of the
AMPE
Note
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. For periods of part-time service, it's based on an equivalent full-time salary
- 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
Plan members who retire after age 65 or who are already receiving CPP/ QPP disability benefits do not receive the 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 occurs first. The bridge benefit is calculated as follows:
0.625Footnote 2% x Years of pensionable service (maximum 35 years) x Your highest average salary (for your best 5 consecutive years of service)
Total pension
Your total pension (lifetime pension + bridge benefit) will be equal to 2% of your average salary.
Is there a correlation between the amount of retirement benefits payable under the Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan and the adjustment to your Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension at age 65?
No. Despite the coordination, the RCMP Pension Plan and the CPP or QPP are separate plans. The benefits provisions of each plan are different and the benefit amount is calculated independently. The formula for the bridge benefit portion of your RCMP pension is the same whether or not you pay CPP or QPP contributions or receive CPP or QPP benefits. The bridge benefit calculation and the stop date are based on the fact that during your pensionable service you paid a lower rate of contributions under the RCMP Pension Plan on the salaries for which you were required to pay CPP or QPP contributions. For further information on the coordination of these plans, please consult the information on the Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan coordination web page.
What happens if you become employed or re-employed in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police past age 71?
You cannot contribute to the RCMP Pension Plan after the end of the calendar year in which you turn 71. If you've already retired and begin working again after age 71, your monthly pension (including indexing) will temporarily cease to be paid and will be reinstated when you stop working. For more details, please see the re-employment after retirement life event in the Retired Member section of this website.
What happens to your dependents' Public Service Health Care Plan and Public Service Dental Care Plan coverage if you work past age 65?
There are no age restrictions on participation under either the Public Service Health Care Plan or the Public Service Dental Care Plan. As long as you remain employed by the RCMP, you may retain coverage for your dependents.