Working outside Québec: the effects on retirement

It has become much more common to hear of people leaving for work in the west or professionals who leave their country to work for their company abroad. Québec has not been left behind in that regard since each year it welcomes workers from other parts of Canada and abroad. What happens to the rights of those workers with regard to the Québec Pension Plan? Allow me to shed a little light on the subject.

Working in Canada 

I know several people in similar situations. I understand that many questions arise concerning retirement. To get a clearer picture, let’s take a look at Brigitte’s case and Lawrence’s case.

 Brigitte has been living and working in Alberta for 22 years. For her retirement, she would like to return to Montreal where she began her career. Lawrence works in Québec, but will return to Ontario to finish his career.

What do they have in common? During their careers, they both will have contributed to two public pension plans, the Québec Pension Plan (QPP) and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

It is not always easy to know what to do in such situations. If you are a worker in this situation, or if you know someone who is, I will summarize the most important elements in two points:

1. The QPP and the CPP are equivalent.
   The Canada Pension Plan is equivalent to the Québec Pension Plan in the other provinces and territories in Canada. If you work in Québec, you probably contribute to the Québec Pension Plan. If you work elsewhere in Canada, you contribute to the Canada Pension Plan instead.
   
   When you apply for your retirement pension, after age 60, the Régie des rentes du Québec or Service Canada will take into account contributions you paid into both plans when calculating the amount of your retirement pension. In either case, none of your contributions are lost.
    
2. Your application for a retirement pension is based on your place of residence. If you have contributed to two plans, your place of residence when you apply will be used to determine whether you should apply to the Régie or Service Canada. In the case of Brigitte, she must apply to the Régie des rentes du Québec, because she lives in Montréal, whereas Lawrence must apply to Service Canada because he will be in Ontario. 

Let’s imagine for a second that instead of going to Ontario as planned, Lawrence receives a job offer from an American company and decides to leave Québec for the United States. He is happy in Florida and decides to stay there for good and spend his golden years under the sun. Since he was living outside Canada when he applied for his retirement pension, is he entitled to a pension from the QPP or the CPP? If he is, to which agency should he apply?

Of course he is entitled to a retirement pension! He made sufficient contributions to the QPP to grant entitlement. In such cases, applications must be filed according to the last province or territory of residence in Canada. Since Lawrence’s last place of residence was in Québec, he must apply for his retirement pension with the Régie.

Working abroad 

If you have worked outside Canada, you may be entitled to a foreign pension. Do you think it’s complicated? Not necessarily! The Régie has concluded social security agreements with more than 30 countries. These agreements allow the Régie to exchange information with various countries so that you can receive benefits under a foreign plan or even so that you can become eligible for benefits under the Québec Pension Plan. Find out more from our Bureau des ententes de sécurité sociale.

Foreign workers 

If you are working in Canada on a temporary basis and you have contributed to the QPP or the CPP, you will retain all of the benefits you accumulated under one or the other plan, even if you leave the country. When you retire, you can apply for your pension according to the last province or territory in which you lived before leaving Canada. If it is Québec, you must apply to the Régie.

I hope that this information will help you better understand these situations. Without a doubt, my advice is: Learn more about these programs. It is your money and you are entitled to it.