Boilermakers National Pension Plan (Canada)

The Canadian pension plan became effective July 1, 1971, with a normal retirement age of 65. In the first plan, members became vested once they had achieved both 10 years of plan membership and age 45. Today, members can become vested after having worked as few as two months over two calendar years.

Trustees have also added early retirement benefits; today, a member may retire as early as age 53 on an unreduced pension. Over time, the monthly pension benefit formula has been adjusted to reflect the funding status of the pension plan.

The first formula for the pension amounted to a monthly pension benefit of 0.67 percent of contributions. Today, the formula provides a significantly larger portion of contributions.

The Boilermakers’ National Pension Plan (Canada) is one of the largest multi-employer pension plans in Canada with assets over $930 million. By 2008, the pension plan was providing monthly retirement benefits of over $14.9 million to more than 8,800 active members and 2,800 retired members and beneficiaries.