How a defined benefit plan works
A pension plan where your monthly pension at retirement is based on a formula using your salary and service and is not impacted by market fluctuations. This means you can better predict what your monthly pension will be when you retire. The longer you work, the larger your pension will be. When you retire, you’ll receive benefits in monthly payments for life.
It's your WISE Trust pension
We manage your WISE Trust pension with a view to ensuring it will be here for you now, and well down the road. You can account for your WISE Trust pension as a source of steady retirement income in your financial planning for retirement.
Learn more about your WISE Trust pension features in Pension 101 >
How you contribute
Both you and your employer contribute to your WISE Trust pension. Your contributions are based on your pensionable earnings and are deducted directly from your base salary. They’re tax-deductible.
Starting July 1, 2020, pension contribution rates will increase by 0.6 per cent of your pensionable earnings, until the funding reaches a 50/50 employer-employee cost-sharing ratio.
How you participate
If you’re a permanent employee, you’ll be automatically enrolled in the Plan on the first day of your permanent employment. You remain a member as long as you’re an employee, even if you become part-time or change to a temporary employment status.
If you’re a permanent part-time employee and your earnings don’t meet the earnings or hours threshold set out in the Plan’s terms on your first day of permanent employment, you won’t be eligible for enrollment in the Plan. Of course, you’ll be enrolled in the Plan once your earnings or hours meet the applicable threshold. Once you are enrolled in the Plan, your membership continues even if in future years your earnings and hours drop below the threshold.
If you’re a temporary employee, you’ll become eligible to participate in the Plan after 24 months of continuous employment, provided that you meet the criteria for membership. Since it’s not mandatory that temporary employees join the Plan, enrollment is not automatic.
You’ll be given a guidebook summarizing WISE Trust’s terms before you become eligible. Your rights and responsibilities, as well as what you’re entitled to, are outlined in the guidebook.