Here’s an overview of how the Union Plan works:
You and the company contribute an equal amount to the pension fund.
The money is invested in a wide range of investments.
Contributions and investment returns are used to pay the promised pensions to retired members.
On retirement, you receive monthly payments based on a formula that considers your earnings and years of credited service.
With a defined benefit pension plan, you don’t have to worry about the ups and downs of the stock market! Your plan provides a monthly pension benefit based on the pension formula, which is dependent on your earnings and credited service, not on investment returns.
Check out these two videos about defined benefit pension plans and retirement planning:
You can also jump to the Retiring section to learn about how the monthly pension is determined and paid.
Here’s an overview of how the Union Plan works:
You and the company contribute an equal amount to the pension fund.
The money is invested in a wide range of investments.
Contributions and investment returns are used to pay the promised pensions to retired members.
On retirement, you receive monthly payments based on a formula that considers your earnings and years of credited service.
With a defined benefit pension plan, you don’t have to worry about the ups and downs of the stock market! Your plan provides a monthly pension benefit based on the pension formula, which is dependent on your earnings and credited service, not on investment returns.
Check out these two videos about defined benefit pension plans and retirement planning:
You can also jump to the Retiring section to learn about how the monthly pension is determined and paid.
A Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the operation of the Union Plan and is comprised of representatives from IBEW, MoveUP and FortisBC.
The responsibilities of the Board of Trustees include:
Monitoring the day-to-day administration of the Union Plan and compliance with plan terms and government legislation
Overseeing the completion of triennial valuation reports and reviewing the resulting contribution rates
Monitoring the performance of all external service providers, including the investment managers, third-party administrator, plan actuary and others
Monitoring fund performance and investment strategy
Overseeing all member communications
Reviewing membership activity
Each union appoints one primary Trustee, and the company appoints two primary Trustees. The unions and company (the “Parties”) mutually agree on the appointment of an independent chairperson. The Trustees meet at least quarterly in order to fulfil their responsibilities. A list of Trustees and contact information is published every year in the Pension News.
The Union Plan is administered by the Board of Trustees, with day-to-day support from the FortisBC Pension Department in conjunction with an external third-party administrator (currently TELUS Health).
The custodian (currently RBC Investor Services Trust) holds the pension fund assets. All contributions are pooled together and remitted to the custodial account. All pensions and benefits are paid out of this same account.
The investment managers make investment decisions within guidelines and objectives set by the Board of Trustees.
The actuary (currently TELUS Health) prepares the periodic actuarial valuation reports, setting out the recommended contribution requirements.
The FortisBC Pension Department is responsible for ensuring:
Member data is accurately uploaded to the external third-party pension administration system
Member enrolments, terminations and retirements are processed
Members have access to pension information and resources
Pension contributions are correctly calculated and remitted to the custodian
The external third-party pension administrator keeps records of service and contributions for all members, calculates pensions and benefits under the plan, and prepares all legislated member disclosure documents. This includes processing member termination and retirement benefits. TELUS Health is the third-party pension administrator.
The Union Plan is subject to the rules for registration under the Canadian Income Tax Act and the British Columbia Pension Benefits Standards Act and is subject to changes from time to time.
