Universities Academic Pension Plan

The primary objective of the Universities Academic Pension Plan (UAPP) is to provide retirement income to participating members and is a valuable part of your overall retirement savings.

Your lifetime pension benefit is based on years of service and salary, not the state of the markets. Although the financial status of the plan can impact contribution rates, it does not affect your pension benefit.

Eligibility

Review your Benefits Overview to confirm if your staff group participates in the UAPP.

Eligibility
Participation Appointment Type When Participation Starts
Mandatory
  • Full-time and part-time continuing employees.
  • Temporary employees appointed to a position of 12 months or longer.
 Date of hire
Service-based

Temporary full-time or part-time employees appointed to a position of less than 12 months join the pension plan when:

  1. continuous terms of appointments (without any break) total at least two years.
  2. the earnings are at least 35% of the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) in each of the two consecutive years immediately prior to the date as in (a) above.
 Date the service requirement is met

A change to the terms of your employment may impact your participation in the plan. If you are unsure of how a change will affect participation in the UAPP, please contact the Staff Service Centre.

About the Plan

The UAPP website  provides detailed information about the plan. You will need to sign in to the Retirement Planner to access your annual statement and calculate your estimated retirement income.

To register, click Retirement Planner on the home page and then click Register Now. If you require assistance, contact the UAPP Administration Centre toll-free at 1-866-709-2092 or email uapp.pensions@buck.com.

Contributions

  • You and the university contribute equally to the UAPP. 
  • Contributions are based on a percentage of pensionable earnings  and are made through payroll deduction. 
  • Contribution rates and maximums are determined by UAPP and are subject to change annually. Refer to the Summary of Costs within the benefits overview for current rates.