Combined Pensionable Service (CPS)

MEPP has a relationship with the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP), called Combined Pensionable Service (CPS).

Members are eligible for CPS if they move from PSPP to MEPP or vice versa: 

• with no break in service; and
• while with the same employer. 

Often, this happens when someone is promoted to a management position with their employer.

It is important to note that under CPS, a member will receive two separately calculated pensions, each using only the pensionable service earned in that Plan. However, once a member has CPS between MEPP and PSPP, service and salary information under both plans will be used in key elements of the calculation of both pensions. 

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With CPS, total pensionable service from both plans is used to determine entitlement to an unreduced pension from each plan. If a member’s pension is reduced, CPS also affects how much that reduction will be. 

MEPP members can retire with an unreduced pension when they reach the age of 60 or when:

• they are at least 55 years of age; and 
• their total years of service in both plans plus their age at retirement equals 80 points or more. 

More about Retirement Eligibility

The pensionable salaries from both plans will be considered when determining the highest average salary for both pensions. For instance, this means that a member’s PSPP pension could be calculated using the salaries they earned in MEPP. 

With CPS, a member’s pensionable service from both plans will be used to determine when they will reach the 35-year maximum service limit. 

Once a CPS relationship has been established, it will continue if a member leaves their current employer and later re-enrolls with another MEPP or PSPP employer. Any service and salary earned under the member’s new MEPP or PSPP employer will count towards their CPS relationship. The member’s new employer does not need to participate in both MEPP and PSPP.

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With CPS, members are not required to start both pensions at the same time. If a member decides to start their pension from one plan earlier than the other plan, the CPS relationship will be considered in calculating both pension benefits. This is true, even though the pensions under each plan will start to be paid at different times.

Please note: Once a member has started to receive a pension under MEPP or PSPP where a CPS relationship is in place, the member will no longer be able to contribute to the other plan or accrue additional salary and service.

CPS is not a transfer of benefits or pensionable service. At retirement, a member will receive two separately calculated pensions, using only the service they earned in each plan. Members can read more about how their MEPP pension is calculated at How Is My Pension Calculated?

If a member decides to transfer their pension benefit out of one plan through a transfer agreement, but leave their pension benefit behind in the other plan, the CPS relationship will be considered in calculating the transfer value from the first plan. The CPS relationship will also be considered in calculating the pension or termination payout that the member will eventually take from the second plan.

Please note that service cannot be transferred between PSPP and MEPP if there is a CPS relationship. 

If a member’s employment or pension plan membership ends (so they are no longer active in either plan) before they are 55 years of age, and they choose to remove their funds from one plan and not the other, the CPS relationship will no longer exist. The pension benefit from the first plan from which they are taking a payout will be calculated with the CPS relationship intact.

In addition, CPS will not apply to the later payout, which may result in the second pension benefit no longer being treated as vested or having a smaller pension amount.  Please contact us for more information.

A CPS relationship does not impact the timelines applicable to applying or electing to purchase leave of absence or period of prior service.

If a member was already making payments toward a buyback with MEPP immediately before moving to PSPP (or vice versa), they can continue to do so after moving to the second plan.

Under both MEPP and PSPP, an employer is liable for making the employer's share of contributions towards the first year of a leave of absence a member may purchase with either plan. This is true even where a CPS relationship has been established.