Reaching age 65: Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension

The RCMP Pension Plan is coordinated with the Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan Coordination so 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 which is payable until the first of the month following your 65th birthday. If you receive disability benefits before age 65, the bridge benefit stops immediately.

If you're still working at age 65, the bridge benefit will not be paid upon retirement. Please see Retirement Income Sources for more information.

If you retire before age 65, you will receive a bridge benefit payable until age 65.

However, if you begin receiving a CPP or QPP disability pension before age 65, your bridge benefit under the RCMP Pension Plan will stop immediately. It's your responsibility to inform the Government of Canada Pension Centre if you start to receive a disability pension under the CPP or QPP. Failure to do so means having to pay back any overpayments.

The bridge benefit will continue to be paid until age 65 even if you choose to receive an early or late CPP or QPP retirement benefit.

However, if you choose to receive your CPP/ QPP benefits early, your CPP/ QPP benefit will be reduced for life and you'll receive a reduced CPP/ QPP amount after age 65. As a result, you can expect to see a decrease in your total pension income when your bridge benefit ends at age 65 because you chose an early (reduced) CPP/ QPP benefit.

The bridge benefit will stop on the first of the month following your 65th birthday or on the date that you become entitled to a CPP or QPP disability pension.

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 or Quebec Pension Plan (CPP or QPP) at age 65. Typically, at age 65, the bridge benefit ends.

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:

• 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
• 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.

If you retire before age 65, the indexation amount on your RCMP pension is calculated based on the total amount of the benefit you receive (that is lifetime pension + bridge benefit). When your bridge benefit ends, the indexing amount is reduced because it's based only on the lifetime pension amount.

Survivor benefits are normally equal to half of your lifetime pension and bridge benefit. The survivor benefits are calculated at this rate even after the bridge benefit ceases which is normally at age 65. Your survivor can receive survivor benefits under the CPP or QPP and also receive a full survivor benefit under the RCMP Pension Plan.

When Quebec residents reach the age of 65 they're automatically covered under the drug insurance plan of the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). In addition, an RCMP member can choose to be covered by both RAMQ and the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP).

For further information on coverage under the RAMQ plan, or to find out how to cancel your enrolment, please visit the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) website.