Early and Phased Retirement Policies and Procedures

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Retirement Guidelines

Procedures

Applicants for early retirement must meet with their Department Chair or, in Faculties without departments, their Dean to initiate the process of determining the terms and conditions of early retirement. All agreements for phased retirement require that the applicant agree on a mutually acceptable reduced workload with the Department Chair and the Dean of the Faculty.

Before finalizing any retirement decision, it is advisable that the applicant contact the Academic Staff Pension Officer (Telephone: 398-6252, extension 2098) in the Department of Pension Management to obtain information on pension benefits as well as the settlement options available upon retirement. The Benefits Office (Telephone: 398-4747) can advise on benefits after retirement and assist with the appropriate procedures.

Retirements and Early Retirements must be entered into the Banner system via a Change of Status form originated by the unit and forwarded via the Faculty office to the Academic Personnel Office.

Early Retirement Allowances

Important Note

Section 2.5, concerning early retirement allowances, of the Regulations Concerning the Retirement of Academic and Librarian Staff has been suspended effective 1 July 2009.

See the General Provisions section of the Academic Retirement Incentive Program page on this site.

RRSP Roll-Over

Canadian tax regulations allow a staff member to shelter a certain portion of a pension for service up to and including the 1995 tax year into an RRSP on a tax-exempt basis. The limit of this roll-over as specified in the Taxation Act is as follows:

• $2,000 for each taxation year, or portion thereof, for which the employee was eligible for pension benefits;
• $3,500 for each taxation year prior to 1989 for which no pension benefits are provided.

The balance after transfer to an RRSP is payable as a one time payment at the time of early retirement, or in two instalments, one at the time of early retirement and the second at the beginning of the following tax year.

If you have transferred pensionable service to McGill University for a period during which you were employed by a previous employer, you may be eligible to roll over funds for this period. Please contact Maria Ollague in HR Shared Services at 398-2491 if you require further information regarding your plan.

Post-Retirement Benefits