Section 5: Frequently Asked Questions

You need to advise your chair/dean/leader in writing. You also have submit a request to HR so that all the necessary paperwork can be generated. 

You have to submit a request to HR so that all the necessary paperwork can be generated. Starting your pension doesn’t impact the employment relationship, so there’s no need to advise your chair/dean/leader.

The more notice the better, but a minimum of three months is required so documents can be prepared, completed and returned.

Employees who report vacation and other absences through eHR and have outstanding vacation days will be paid on the last pay deposit.

For employees who report vacation and other absences through eHR, if your leader agrees then vacation can be taken before and leading into retirement. In cases like this, your last day of work will not be your retirement date.

For example if you want to retire on September 1 and have 25 vacation days your last day of work would be July 28 and you will enter vacation days from July 29 through August 31.

While you can defer your pension payment, we recommend assessing if it is financially beneficial. If you’ve made the decision to retire the pension is calculated based on your average earnings and credited service in the plan. These two factors won’t change once your employment ends.

There is no financial reason to defer the payment unless you’re retiring early and your pension is reduced. You can defer it until your unreduced retirement date but you’ll be giving up the income during that period. For example, if you leave the university and you’re over 55 but not eligible for an unreduced pension until age 60, the reduction would be 25% (5 years x 5% per year). This means that if you wait to retire until 60, there would be no reduction, but you would be giving up getting the pension income for 5 years.

We recommend reviewing the implications with your financial advisor.

The pension is subject to income tax deductions, benefit premiums (if you elect the TMU plans), and any garnishment.

If you had a spouse on the day you retired, they will receive 60% of your pension (excluding the bridging supplement) for the remainder of their lifetime. This is commonly referred to as a Joint and Survivor pension.

For individuals who do not have a spouse at time of retirement, there is a minimum 10 year payout of your pension. This means that if you die within 10 years of retiring, your beneficiary will receive the remainder of payments for the 10 year period from the date you retired. This is called a Life 10 pension.

If your spouse dies after retirement, please let us know by submitting a request to HR. Please note that only the spouse you had on the day you retire is entitled to the survivor pension. If your spouse predeceases you, the pension does not become a Life 10 pension.

If you had a spouse on the date of retirement, that spouse is still entitled to the Joint and Survivor pension (unless they waived their right to it). Divorce after retirement does not change the pension to a Life 10 pension. There are options to pay out your spouse. Please submit a request to HR if this applies to you.

If you marry post retirement, you can add your spouse to the group benefit plans if you are enrolled in it and pay the family rate. This spouse is not entitled to the Joint and Survivor pension but you can name them as beneficiary for the Life 10 pension assuming that you haven’t already received 120 monthly payments, as long as you did not have a spouse at the time of retirement.

Yes your TMU pension is payable no matter where you live. If you still want to have the payment made by direct deposit you should open an account at a Canadian bank in the country you’ve moved to. Pensions can be deposited to foreign banks but there is usually a time delay and also a fee.

You can contact RBC directly at 1-800-668-1320 or by email at benefpay@rbc.com.

Your group benefit coverage ends on your retirement date. You have 90 days to submit any outstanding claims incurred prior to your retirement date. There are many options to purchase medical and dental benefits post retirement.

Cost is dependent on single or family coverage and which plan you purchase. 

Review additional information about retiree coverage available through TMU by visiting Benefits for Retirees and selecting your employee group and age category at retirement. 

Explore coverage with other providers

To explore alternative coverage options with other providers, please review

• Retiree Under 65 Health and Dental Benefit Comparison (external link) 
• Retiree 65+ Health and Dental Benefit Comparison (external link) 

The early retiree plans provide the same level of coverage as the active plans and are very comprehensive with vision care coverage, prescription drugs, 20 massage therapy visits and more. The TMU post-65 plans are considerably scaled back and therefore cost less.

The policy number with Sun Life is the same (025180) and your member ID is still your TMU employee ID. You continue to submit claims the same way you did as an active employee - by mail, online or by using their mobile app.

TMU retirees can continue using their @torontomu.ca Gmail and Google Drive accounts. After the last day of employment, your TMU Google account will be active for three years. After the three-year period, you will receive a reminder email annually to renew your account for another year. If the reminder emails have expired, please request through ITHelp to re-send the renewal email again.

Retirees are able to retain library access by: 

• Providing proof of retirement status from Human Resources and one other piece of government-issued photo ID.
  
• Loan periods depend on individual items, but generally books may be borrowed for three weeks, with four renewals. Only two reserve items and three periodicals/maps may be borrowed at the same time.
• Remote access to most databases are unavailable due to licensing restrictions established by the database providers.
• Access to interlibrary loan services is also unavailable. For this service, it’s recommended to contact your local public library.

In addition to keeping your TMU email and library access, there are other ways to keep in touch.

• Contact  (google form) University Advancement (external link)  to receive regular mailings and invitations to events.
• Volunteer for convocation.
• Check out the Continuing Education offerings under their 50+ program.