There are vehicles that allow pension credits accumulated under a previous pension plan, to be transferred to the plan members’ current pension plan, provided that the pension contributions with the previous plan have not been refunded. These vehicles are “The Portability (of Pensions) Act” and “Reciprocal Agreements”.

What if plan members change pension plans within the public sector?

The Portability of (Pensions) Act, provides for the transfer of service between the following Plans, as long as the contributions paid under the former plan have not been refunded:

• The Uniformed Services Pension Plan
• Public Service Pension Plan
• The Teachers’ Pension Plan
• The Memorial University Pension Plan
• Members of the House of Assembly Pension Plan

Plan members must complete a Portability of Pension Election Form (24 KB) to initiate the transfer process. Upon receiving this form Pensions Division will calculate the cost of transferring the service. The amount required by the importing plan would be two times the contributions that would have been paid based on the annual rate of pensionable salary at their most recent plan entry date under the current plan. The amount available for transfer from the previous plan would be the total of the employee and employer contributions plus interest. If the amount available for transfer is less than the amount required plan members have the option of paying the difference or, being credited with a lesser amount of service.

Does the USPP participate in reciprocal agreements with other plans?

Currently, there is one reciprocal agreement in place involving the Government Money Purchase Pension Plan (GMPP) and the USPP.

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