In the next day or two, you should receive notice of a package of information from CBC Pension Administration. It will resemble material received last year. Like last time, it will ask you to give your approval to enable a payout of pension surplus. While the package will look familiar, it will include one important new feature.
The significant difference this time is that a YES vote will stand as the only vote required for the next five years. This should permit quicker payouts of future surpluses.
In order to allow that to happen, OSFI (the federal pension plan regulator) is once again seeking approval from at least two-thirds of all contributors.
The First Notice will be on the PAC website as of November 18. On November 19, the First Notice will be sent by mail to all retirees, survivors and deferred pensioners.
The “soft deadline” for the receipt of ballots will be December 13, 2024. The CBC will then send the results of the vote to OSFI.
Assuming we achieve the necessary two-thirds approval of the payout, it’s expected payments will be made before summer, possibly as early as March or April.
The CBC Pension Plan continues to perform well. Last year the plan generated another significant surplus which means your YES vote will allow you and members of the plan to share approximately $55-million of pension surplus.
As of the end of last year, the plan had assets of more than $8-billion and a solvency surplus of more than a billion-and-a-half dollars. Based on the performance of the plan, the Pensioners National Association (PNA) is recommending you VOTE YES.
FAQ
Here are the most frequently asked questions.
Q. What impact will the potential postal strike have on the deadline for ballots?
A. The deadline for returning the ballot forms will be extended, as necessary, to allow all pensioners sufficient time to submit them electronically or by return post.
Q. Will there be an online voting option?
A. Since November 18th, an option has been available on the CBC Pension Administration Centre (PAC) website. You can download the ballot, complete it, and email it to the address provided.
Here is the PAC website link.
Q. I have difficulties accessing the CAP website.
A. If you are having trouble logging into the CAP website, please refer to the guide here.