Enhancing pension communication

Transcription

1 PENSION NEWS LATER IN THIS ISSUE > Coming in 2017: annual statements...2 > The good old days?...3 > Pensioner Alain Pineau appointed to Pension Board...3 > Pensions will increase by 1.41%...3 > You asked...4 > The PAC website your CBC pension information hub...5 > Who to contact...6 Enhancing pension communication A 2015 CBC Pension Board of Trustees initiative was to develop a brand strategy and enhanced pension communication program. In the first phase of the project, the Pension Board, with the assistance of an external marketing firm DNA asked Pension Plan members for insight into their perceptions, needs, concerns and expectations for Pension Plan communications. In November and December 2015, DNA conducted an online survey for employees, an online survey for pensioners (for whom we had an address), employee focus groups and one-on-one phone interviews with randomly-selected pensioners. Overall, close to 800 pensioners provided their feedback. The Pension Board s next steps are to gradually implement DNA s recommendations for improved communications. Here s what you can look for now and into WHAT PENSIONERS SAID > Primarily interested in uninterrupted receipt of pension payments > Positive perceptions and beliefs about the fund s performance and the Plan > Confidence in the Plan s management and administration > Minimal understanding of the Plan s investment strategy but interest in knowing more if/how it impacts them New look for the Pension News and for the login page of the Pension Administration Centre website Many of you will have noticed the new look for this edition of Pension News: a fresh, easierto-peruse newsletter! We ve carried this new look to the Pension Administration Centre s login page. Check it out at We ll continue to incorporate this new look into other documents and communication tools into 2017 and beyond. New Pension Board website The Pension Board provides a public website to inform and educate Pension Plan members and the public about the CBC Pension Plan, the Pension Board and Pension Plan activities. In 2017, a new Pension Board website will be launched. Here s what s changing: New look: A redesigned website to help create a consistent brand for all Pension Board communications. New section: A new Members section to help direct all our Plan members to the right place for their questions. More focus: A renewed emphasis on who we are, what we do, where we invest and how the Plan is doing. Check out the Pension Board s site at A new Communiqué After each quarterly meeting of the Trustees, the Pension Board publishes a short bulletin called Communiqué that provides information on the financial situation of the Pension Plan, an update on the investment performance and strategy as well as information about the Plan s activities. The September 2016 Communiqué incorporates our new modern look and simplified content. If you haven t already, be sure to have a read-through. The Communiqué can be found on the Pension Board s website at 1

2 COMING IN 2017: annual statements for retired employees The Pension Benefits Standards Act (PBSA), 1985 is the Act that regulates federal pension plans, like the CBC Pension Plan. A recent amendment to the PBSA Regulations requires that these federal pension plans provide annual statements to retired employees and ex-employees who are eligible for a deferred pension. (Annual pension plan statements are already required for employees.) The Regulations set out what information we must provide on your annual statements. Here is what you ll find on your CBC Pension Plan annual statement: your name, your spouse s name: this is the spouse who is eligible for a pension at your death, if there is one, PENSION NEWS IS GREENER This year, for the first time, we sent this bulletin by to pensioners for whom we have an address. That s a savings of over 2,000 stamps, not to mention the envelopes and paper we ve conserved. Interested in receiving the Pension News and other communication electronically? Let us know by sending an to pension@cbc.ca. GIVING YOU MORE INFORMATION A source of anxiety for some retired employees who are under 65 is the reduction in their CBC pension at 65. Good news: the new annual statements will include this information. We hope that by providing this information every year there will be no more unpleasant surprises for retired employees when they reach 65. the statement period, and information on the Pension Plan s financial situation as of December 31 of the previous year, such as the solvency rate of the Plan, any special payments that CBC/Radio- Canada made to the Plan, the total value of the Plan s solvency assets and liabilities, as well as a list of the fund s top 10 largest asset holdings. By law, your statements must be mailed by June 30 for the period that ended December 31 of the previous year. Watch your mailbox next year for this new annual communication. For now paper copies of the statements We recognize that more and more pensioners would like to receive communications in an electronic format. And, we had hoped that we would be able to offer the option of electronic annual statements to our employees and retired employees. Although the Regulations allow us to provide the statements in a secure electronic manner, they also require that we obtain the consent of both the member and the member s spouse, where applicable, before we can do this. With that additional requirement in mind, we analyzed the cost to develop a mechanism to obtain and manage consent, as well as the cost to provide the statements electronically to those who consented, and by paper to those who hadn t. We determined that the cost to do this outweighed the cost to provide them to all members only in paper format by regular mail. As a result, until a more affordable solution is found, or the Regulations are changed, retired employees will receive a paper statement in the mail. The statements will be also posted to the Pension Administration Centre website under Your profile. 2

3 1990 The good old days? Now, with direct deposit, pensioners sometimes forget to advise us of a change of address. That means extra work for our teams: looking for pensioners and then re-sending tax slips or other pension communication. And now, with annual statements starting in 2017 for retired employees, it s more important than ever for you to let us know when you re moving. In the early 1990 s, we started directly depositing pension payments into pensioners bank accounts. Now, practically all of you take advantage of this easy and cost-effective way of receiving your pension. But, believe it or not, there s one thing that was better in the days of cheques pensioners almost always let us know when they moved; otherwise, they didn t get their money on time! If you re moving, advise Pension Payroll: by at pension@cbc.ca by phone at (North America) or by regular mail at: PO Box 3220, Station C, Ottawa ON K1Y 1E4 Pensioner Alain Pineau appointed to the CBC Pension Board of Trustees At their November 2016 meeting, the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors appointed pensioner Alain Pineau as Trustee to the Pension Board effective January 1, 2017 to replace pensioner Paul Gaffney who recently decided to step down as Trustee after serving nine years on the Board. Mr. Pineau had a varied and memorable career at CBC/Radio-Canada working in a variety of roles in the French networks and finally launching Galaxie, CBC/Radio-Canada s for-profit audio service in his last years before retirement. Mr. Pineau retired in 2005 after 34 years at CBC/Radio-Canada. PENSIONS WILL INCREASE BY 1.41% ON JANUARY 1, 2017 CBC pensions are increased on January 1st of each year if there has been an upward movement in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the previous year, to a maximum of 2.7%. The CPI average for the 12-month period ending in September of the current year is compared with the average for the 12-month period ending in September of the previous year. For 2017, your pension will increase by 1.41%. 3

4 YOU ASKED When do I have to provide you with a Power of Attorney? We require a Power of Attorney when you can no longer take care of your affairs, or when you would like someone to take care of your affairs on your behalf. By law, we must protect your personal information; we cannot provide information about your benefits or pension, or make changes to your information, unless the question or request comes from you, the pensioner. If someone else needs to make changes or ask questions on your behalf, you will need to provide us with a notarized copy or an original of your Power of Attorney; we do not accept photocopies. This requirement provides us with additional assurance that the original document is still in existence and is in the attorney s possession. In addition, providing a notarized copy further protects you from fraud: the original Power of Attorney must be compared to the copy before it can be notarized. Why do I owe income tax when I file my return? Most pensioners have gone from one income stream as an employee to multiple income streams during retirement. These new income streams may represent income from the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan and Old Age Security, as well as re-employment or investment income. When calculating your income tax, CBC Pension Payroll assumes that your CBC pension is your only source of income and calculates the tax based on the federal and provincial governments requirements and the exemptions and credits that you declared on the tax declaration forms (TD1 federal, TD1 provincial and TP in Quebec) that you completed, either at retirement or after. Two factors may cause CBC Pension Payroll to deduct insufficient income tax: you have additional income streams others than your CBC pension, the exemptions and credits CBC Pension Payroll has recorded do not match those you declare on your income tax return. If you need to increase your federal income tax, complete the Canada Revenue Agency form, Personal Tax Credits Return TD1 and follow these steps: 1. Check your CBC pension Notification of Deposit (NOD) to see what your current federal tax credits are (called FEDERAL EXEMPTION on the bottom of your NOD). 2. Make sure your total claim amount on Line 13 of the form matches the federal exemption on your NOD; otherwise, your basic income tax deduction may change, which may not be what you want. 3. Indicate the TOTAL monthly additional federal tax that you would like deducted on the second page of the form under the section called Additional tax to be deducted. For example, if you already have $20 a month deducted and would like it to be increased by $10, indicate $30 in this box. Quebec residents: To increase your Quebec income tax, complete the Revenu Québec form, Request to Have Additional Income Tax Withheld at Source TP-1017-V. Indicate the TOTAL monthly additional Quebec tax that you would like deducted on the first line under Section 2 Election. For example, if you already have $20 a month deducted and would like it to be increased by $10, indicate $30 in this box. You can find links to the tax forms on the Pension Administration Centre (PAC) website under Resources > Forms. You can also contact CBC Pension Payroll, or call the Canada Revenue Agency (for the federal form) at or Revenu Québec (for the provincial form) at Once completed, return the form to CBC Pension Payroll. 4

5 THE PENSION ADMINISTRATION CENTRE WEBSITE your CBC pension information hub Your profile > Your benefits profile This page shows your Supplementary Health Care Plan (SHCP) and life insurance coverage as well as the balance in your Premium Continuance Program account, as applicable. If you run into problems logging in, click the links on the login page: Initial password If you re logging in for the first time or have reset your password, this link tells you how to create your initial temporary password. Forgotten password This link takes you through the steps to reset your password. The CBC/Radio-Canada Pension Administration Centre (PAC) website is the centralized place to get information on your CBC pension and group benefits. Visit the website at and log in using your CBC ID number and your password. Be sure to check out Your profile > Your CBC pension: This page shows your current annual indexed lifetime pension amount and your annual indexed temporary supplemental benefit (payable until you reach 65, or until your late spouse would have reached 65 if you are receiving a survivor s pension). If you are a retired employee, this page also shows the survivor pension payable at your death, if applicable: the name and date of birth of the eligible spouse, and the annual pension that would be payable to that spouse in today s dollars. RESET YOUR PASSWORD ON THE PENSION ADMINISTRATION CENTRE WEBSITE If you ve forgotten your password or exceeded the maximum login attempts you can reset your password yourself by going to Forgotten password on the login page, and following the instructions to answer your Challenge questions. Keep in mind, the answers to your Challenge questions are case-sensitive: you need to answer them exactly the way you originally recorded them. When you correctly answer them, your password will be reset to the Initial password. Then, log in with your Initial password, and follow the instructions to choose a new password. It s that easy! 5

6 Who to contact Here is a quick summary of who to contact for what in CBC Pension Plan and benefits administration. For questions, requests or feedback related to Your address, pension cheque or direct deposit Your income tax deductions Your tax slips The Pensioner Declaration Service you ve received from the Pension Administration Centre (administered by our third-party provider Morneau Shepell) Logging in to the PAC website or to have your password reset The amount of your gross pension, or any adjustments to your gross pension, such as changes when you turn 65 Benefit deductions from your pension payment, such as for the Supplementary Health Care Plan (SHCP) or life insurance Joining, cancelling or changing your dependents under the SHCP The Premium Continuance Program Life insurance, such as confirmation of the amount of your life insurance, as well as joining, increasing or decreasing your Optional Life Insurance coverage and taxable benefits A claim you ve submitted under the SHCP What s covered under the SHCP Accessing GroupNet for Plan Members The drug card Contact CBC Pension Payroll By telephone: Through PAC at option 1, or Directly at or By pension@cbc.ca By fax: By mail: CBC Pension Payroll PO Box 3220, Station C Ottawa ON K1Y 1E4 CBC/Radio-Canada Pension Administration Centre (PAC) administered by Morneau Shepell By telephone: (in North America) or (outside North America) > Pension-related option 2 > Benefits-related option 3 By mail: CBC/Radio-Canada Pension Administration Centre 1060 Robert-Bourassa Blvd, Suite 900 Montreal QC H3B 4V3 On the website at > Use the Ask a question feature > Check out your personalized pension and benefits information under Your profile > Download the forms you need under Resources > Forms including: Tax forms Application/Modification/Dependent Information Form for the SHCP Optional Life Insurance Application/ Modification/Beneficiary Designation Basic Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation > Find the survivor planning workbook and other useful documents under Resources > Library Great-West Life By telephone: (in North America) (outside North America) On GroupNet for Plan Members: > SEASON S GREETINGS & BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR from CBC/RADIO-CANADA AND THE PENSION BOARD 6