Another significant milestone has been achieved toward the creation of the University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP).
The required consent threshold has been surpassed at the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto and Queen’s University for all existing pension plans, enabling the conversion to the UPP to proceed.
This brings the Ontario university sector one step closer to a new, sustainable defined benefit pension plan.
“Achieving the consent threshold for the UPP is great news for University of Guelph pension plan members,” says Don O’Leary, vice-president (finance, administration and risk). “As we have said throughout this process, the UPP provides the best option for creating sustainable, long-term defined pension benefits for U of G and the university sector. I’m grateful for the support and collaboration of so many groups as we have moved this initiative forward.”
The University of Guelph, University of Toronto and Queen’s University, together with their respective faculty associations, the United Steelworkers and representatives of non-unionized employees, have worked closely to develop a sustainable pension plan for employees at all three universities.
This important step caps many months of collaboration, consultation and hard work on behalf of all stakeholder groups participating in the creation of the UPP.
What’s Next?
The transfer of the existing pension plans into the UPP involves several technical steps and additional approvals, including approval of university governing boards to proceed. For further information on next steps for the UPP refer to the UPP website.
The UPP is anticipated to be fully implemented and operational by July 1, 2021. At that point, all members of the existing pension plans will join the UPP and active members will begin accruing benefits based on the UPP provisions. At the same time, assets and liabilities of the existing pension plans will be transferred to the UPP.
About the UPP
The UPP will be a jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP), jointly governed by both employers and plan members, like other well-known, multi-employer JSPPs, such as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). Once established, the UPP will be available for other Ontario universities to join. As it grows, the UPP will create a larger pool for investing and for sharing pension costs and risks.
For more information, please read the most recent UPP joint communique, call Human Resources (Total Compensation) at 519-824-4120, Ext. 52142, or email upp@uoguelph.ca.