A SIMPLE Way to Save

With family and work commitments, it’s often hard to make time for retirement planning or to put aside savings. Joining OPTrust Select is a smart way to invest in your financial future and earn a secure pension at retirement, payable for your lifetime.

Who can join

OPTrust Select is available to employers in Ontario’s Broader Public Sector (BPS) and charitable and nonprofit organizations that operate in Ontario.

If your employer participates in OPTrust Select you may be required to join or you may have the option to join.

Interested in learning more? Simply contact us at info@optrustselect.com.

4 reasons to join

  1. OPTrust Select is managed by a world-class investment team.
  2. The pension you receive is based on a set formula and is not impacted by day-to-day fluctuations in the market or investment performance.
  3. In an RRSP or defined contribution (DC) plan, the investment risk is on you as an individual to save enough for retirement. With OPTrust Select, you can’t outlive your pension because it is payable for life.
  4. Both you and your employer contribute to the fund.

A SMART Investment in Your Future

We are passionate about pensions and believe strongly in the value of the defined benefit (DB) pension model and its ability to provide secure, predictable income in retirement.

That’s why we’ve introduced OPTrust Select to expand DB pensions and the advantages of the DB model to a broader universe of working people in Ontario.

OPTrust Select is a simple way to save for the future. The Plan features:

  • Contribution rate of 3% for members and 3% for employers
    For years one and two, each new employer contributes an additional 0.2%
  • An annual accrual rate of 0.6% of earnings
  • Upgrades before retirement and cost-of-living increases, dependent on the Plan’s funded status and annual board approval.

A contribution to your future

Simply put, for the price of a cup of coffee or two a day, you’re contributing to a secure pension with OPTrust Select.

$3

a day

  • with a $40,000 annual salary
$4

a day

  • with a $50,000 annual salary
$5

a day

  • with a $60,000 annual salary
$6

a day

  • with a $70,000 annual salary

See how it all adds up

OPTrust Select provides a steady stream of retirement income at age 65 to supplement your government benefits.

Final Salary $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000
Your Retirement Income at Age 65
Enhanced CPP* and OAS Benefits 20,400 23,700 27,000 28,300
OPTrust Select Pension** 5,700 7,100 8,500 9,900
Total Retirement Income $26,100 $30,800 $35,500 $38,200
Income Replacement Ratio 65% 62% 59% 55%

The example is based on a member with 25 years of service and various final salary levels retiring at age 65.
*Assumes member contributes to CPP for full career at level consistent with average salary
**Assumes earnings increase by 2.5% each year and benefit reflects upgrades before retirement of 2% each year

OPTrust Select pensions are calculated based on your career average earnings multiplied by 0.6% for each year of service you earn in the Plan. Depending on the financial status of the Plan, the Board of Trustees will meet annually to determine whether active members should receive upgrades and pensions in pay should receive a cost of living increase. Upgrades before retirement can range from 0 to 100% of the increase in the previous year’s average industrial wage (AIW) and cost of living increases for pensioners can range from 0-100% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

OPTrust Select Employers

OPTrust Select is designed specifically for organizations in the nonprofit, charitable and broader public sectors in Ontario and brings the advantages of OPTrust’s large scale and investment expertise to organizations that did not previously offer a defined benefit pension. The people who have joined OPTrust Select provide a range of critically important services including healthcare, community support and environmental advocacy. View the interactive map.

employer map

Funded Status Report

2023 OPTrust Funded Status Report, People. Purpose. Pensions.

 

"The people at OPTrust are engaged in purposeful work. A sustainable pension, fully funded for 15 consecutive years, is representative of OPTrust delivering pensions and peace of mind for our members."

Peter Lindley
President and Chief Executive Officer

2023 Funded Status Report

2022 Report

2021 Report

2020 Report

2019 Report

Investment Strategy and Performance

With net assets of $25 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada’s largest pension funds. OPTrust is a global investor in a broad range of asset classes including Canadian and foreign equities, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure and private equity, and has a team of highly experienced investment professionals located in Toronto, London and Sydney.

We use a Member-Driven Investing (MDI) strategy, which is our application of a Total Portfolio approach. This emphasizes an integrated approach to investing in which management and the Board work toward shared stakeholder objectives, namely preserving the fully funded status of the Plan over the long term.

Find out more about OPTrust’s investments:

Total Portfolio investment performance

Total Portfolio investment performance

The Total Portfolio return is net of management fees, transaction costs and investment administration expenses.

Responsible Investing Report

2023 Responsible Investing Report

2023 Responsible Investing Report

Climate Change

Climate Change Strategy

Our climate change strategy is designed with one purpose in mind: to protect our pension promise over the long term. Our 2023 update provides our members with a look at how we are putting our climate strategy into action.

OPTrust Select News

Previous news

About OPTrust

The Board of Trustees and its employees operate under the name “OPTrust.” OPTrust is the legal administrator of the Plan under the Pension Benefits Act and is responsible for administering the Plan and managing and investing the Plan’s assets. OPTrust has a fiduciary responsibility to administer the Plan and invest the assets in the best interests of all Plan members.

OPTrust is not a crown agency and operates independently from its sponsors. Only the sponsors can make changes to the Plan, including changes in contribution levels and benefits.

OPTrust is responsible for determining inflation adjustments provided to OPTrust Select members.

About the OPSEU Pension Plan

The OPSEU Pension Plan was established by the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union (OPSEU) to give members and employers an equal say in the governance of the Plan. The Plan is established as a trust governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of five government-appointed Trustees and five OPSEU-appointed Trustees. As sponsors, the Government represents all employers and OPSEU represents all members for purposes of appointing the members of the Board and amending the Plan.

In accordance with the Sponsorship Agreement and Trust Agreement which created the Plan only the sponsors can appoint trustees to the board. However, a Pension Advisory Committee consisting of representatives of OPTrust Select employers and employees will be established if and when OPTrust Select reaches 1,000 members.

The OPSEU Pension Plan consists of two schedules of benefits: the original schedule of benefits, referred to as the primary schedule of benefits, and OPTrust Select. OPTrust Select members and employers make lower contributions and members receive a more modest benefit than under the primary schedule of benefits. To provide this benefit at a lower cost, OPTrust Select does not offer subsidized early retirement and survivor benefits, bridge benefits, disability pensions or guaranteed inflation protection.

The Plan is registered with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act as a “jointly sponsored pension plan.” The Plan is also registered with the Canada Revenue Agency under the Income Tax Act.

Plan Text
Read the Plan Text, the document that sets out the specific provisions of the Plan, here.

Defined Benefit advantage:

OPTrust Select offers a secure and reliable retirement solution at a moderate cost to both employers and employees.

The plan is targeted to Ontario workplaces in the broader public sector and nonprofit groups that do not have workplace DB pension plans but may have a defined contribution (DC) plan, a group RRSP or no retirement savings arrangement at all.

Employers can only participate in one schedule of benefits and employees cannot participate in both schedules of benefits at the same time. In addition, employers and employees participating in OPTrust’s main schedule of benefits are not eligible to join OPTrust Select.

OPTrust Select will provide its members with a predictable retirement income and includes the following features:

  • contributions made by both members and employers
  • annual pension accrual rate of 0.6% of earnings
  • upgrades before retirement and cost of living increases, depending on the OPTrust’s funded status and annual Board approval.

OPSEU, the Ontario government and the staff at OPTrust made this vision a reality. As the first new jointly sponsored DB product offering for modest income earners in a generation, OPTrust Select speaks to our desire to see more Ontarians benefit from a secure, reliable, stream of income in retirement. This is a top priority for OPTrust.

OPTrust Select is also advantageous to the OPSEU Pension Plan and members of the main schedule of benefits – allocation of risk and operational costs over a broader membership base creates greater sustainability for all over the long term.