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Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version.   If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 18

THE TEACHERS' PENSIONS AMENDMENT ACT


Explanatory Note

(Assented to                                         )

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

C.C.S.M. c. T20 amended

1

The Teachers' Pensions Act is amended by this Act.

2

The definition "minister" in subsection 1(1) is replaced with the following:

"minister" means the Minister of Education, Training and Youth; (« ministre »)

3

Clause 3(h) is replaced with the following:

(h) every person who, as a member of the Faculty of Education of The University of Manitoba, The University of Winnipeg, Brandon University or Le Collège de Saint-Boniface, elects under section 68 to continue as a teacher; and

4(1)

The following is added after subsection 6(6.1):

Teaching within 30 teaching days after retirement

6(6.2)

If a person under the age of 65 years becomes employed as a teacher within 30 teaching days after retiring, he or she is deemed not to have retired and must repay to the fund any pension benefits received under subsection (6) for the period during which he or she would, but for this subsection, have been retired.

4(2)

The following is added after subsection 6(12):

Years of service for determining eligibility

6(12.1)

In determining a person's eligibility for a pension, separate periods of full-time or part-time employment as a teacher shall be

(a) determined without regard to periods of temporary suspension from employment; and

(b) treated as one period of continuous service.

5

Section 17 is replaced with the following:

"School year" defined

17(1)

In this section, "school year" means the period beginning on July 1 of one year and ending on June 30 of the next year.

Teaching while receiving a pension

17(2)

Subject to subsection (4), a person may be employed as a teacher while receiving a pension.

No contributions while receiving a pension

17(3)

A person must not, and is not liable to, contribute to the fund under section 52 for any period of service during which he or she is receiving a pension, and such a period does not count as service in determining the amount of his or her pension.

Teaching more than 120 days

17(4)

If a person under the age of 65 years is employed as a teacher for more than 120 teaching days in a school year while receiving a pension,

(a) clauses 18(2)(a) to (c) apply as if the person had made an election under subsection 18(1) on the 121st teaching day that he or she was employed as a teacher in that year; and

(b) the person must repay to the fund any pension benefits received for the period beginning that day and ending when he or she again retires under this Act.

Teacher must notify employer

17(5)

A person under the age of 65 years who is receiving a pension while employed as a teacher must inform the employer

(a) that he or she is receiving a pension; and

(b) of the number of days in the school year that he or she has been employed as a teacher while receiving a pension.

Employer must notify board

17(6)

The employer of a teacher who is receiving a pension while under the age of 65 years must keep a record of the number of teaching days in the school year that he or she has been employed as a teacher while receiving a pension, and must notify the board in writing when that number reaches 120.

6

The following is added after subsection 41(15):

Board may invest for government

41(16)

The board may enter into an agreement to invest funds on behalf of the government, and may do all things necessary to carry out its obligations under the agreement.

Board may administer other plans

41(17)

The board may enter into an agreement to administer a pension or other benefit plan for some or all of the employees of any employer, and may do all things necessary to carry out its obligations under the agreement.

7

Clause 47(3)(d) is amended by striking out "subsection 36(12)" and substituting "subsection 41(12)".

8

Clause 48(2)(c) is replaced with the following:

(c) with 50% of the moneys paid to the board under subsections 6(6.2), 17(4) and 63(4) and (5), section 63.2 and subsection 68(3);

9

The following is added after subsection 49(6):

One-time transfer to pension adjustment account

49(7)

The board shall transfer $15,621,010. from Account A to the pension adjustment account.  For the purposes of this Act, the effective date of the transfer is deemed to be December 31, 1999.

10

Subsection 52(9) is replaced with the following:

Deductions from university employee's salary

52(9)

The employer of a teacher referred to in clause 3(h) must withhold from each monthly payment of the teacher's salary the amounts to be deducted under subsection (1) and must remit those amounts monthly to the board.

11

Section 57 is amended by striking out "Revised Statutes" and substituting "Revised Statutes of Manitoba, 1954".

12

Subsection 59(1) is amended by striking out everything after "different years," and substituting "in determining the amount of his or her pension, each total of 200 teaching days included in the whole number of teaching days in all those broken periods shall be counted as a year of service."

13

The following is added after section 63.1:

Purchase of service

63.2(1)

A teacher or former teacher who has not received a refund of his or her contributions and is not receiving a pension may, by applying to the board and satisfying the terms and conditions set out in subsection (2), purchase a period of service that cannot otherwise be, or can no longer be, purchased by him or her under any other provision of this Act.

Terms and conditions

63.2(2)

In order for a period of service to be purchased under subsection (1),

(a) the purchaser must satisfy the board that, throughout the period, he or she was not contributing to a pension plan other than the Canada Pension Plan and was

(i) a teacher on parental leave in accordance with the terms of a collective agreement or the employer's policies,

(ii) employed under the minister or under the minister responsible for universities, or

(iii) employed as a member of the Faculty of Education of The University of Manitoba, The University of Winnipeg, Brandon University or Le Collège de Saint-Boniface, or

(iv) employed by a school district as a clinician and would, if the period had been after 1980, have been required to contribute to the fund; and

(b) the purchaser must agree to contribute to the fund, as a lump sum or by instalments as prescribed by the board, an amount equal to the actuarial cost, as determined by the actuary, of providing the increase in the applicant's pension by reason of the increase in the applicant's service as a teacher for the purposes of this Act.

14

Section 68 is replaced with the following:

Definitions

68(1)

In this section,

"pre-election period", in relation to a qualifying teacher who elects under this section to continue as a teacher, means the period beginning when he or she became a qualifying teacher and ending when he or she starts making contributions under section 52 because of the election; (« période antérieure au choix »)

"qualifying teacher" means a teacher or former teacher who

(a) becomes a person referred to in clause 3(c), or

(b) with at least 10 years of service as a teacher, becomes employed as a member of The Faculty of Education of The University of Manitoba, The University of Winnipeg, Brandon University or Le Collège de Saint-Boniface. (« enseignant admissible »)

Qualifying teacher may elect to continue as teacher

68(2)

A qualifying teacher may, by written notice to the board within 12 months after becoming a qualifying teacher or any longer period allowed by the board, elect to continue as a teacher under this Act.

Contributions for pre-election period

68(3)

A qualifying teacher who has elected under subsection (2) to continue as a teacher under this Act must, within six months after making the election or any longer period allowed by the board, contribute to the fund an amount equal to the actuarial cost, as determined by the actuary, of providing the increase in the qualifying teacher's pension by reason of including his or her pre-election period in his or her service as a teacher.

Transfer from Civil Service Superannuation Fund

68(4)

If, during his or her pre-election period, a qualifying teacher referred to in clause 3(c) made contributions to The Civil Service Superannuation Fund under The Civil Service Superannuation Act, there shall be

(a) paid from The Civil Service Superannuation Fund to the fund; and

(b) credited toward the teacher's obligation under subsection (3);

an amount equal to the total of the teacher's contributions for the pre-election period and interest on those contributions, calculated and compounded annually at the average rate of interest earned by The Civil Service Superannuation Fund during that period.

Contributions under section 52

68(5)

After electing under this section to continue as a teacher, a qualifying teacher must make the contributions required by subsection 52(1), and section 52 applies, with the necessary changes, to those contributions.

Entitlement to pension

68(6)

A qualifying teacher who has elected under this section to continue as a teacher is entitled to a pension as though he or she were a teacher, and as though his or her salary earned as a qualifying teacher were earned as a teacher.

No participation in other pension plans

68(7)

Despite the provisions of any other Act or any pension plan, scheme or agreement, a qualifying teacher who has elected under this section to continue as a teacher is not required or permitted to contribute to or participate in any pension plan of his or her employer for so long as he or she remains a qualifying teacher.

Coming into force

15(1)

This Act, except section 9, comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

Coming into force: section 9

15(2)

Section 9 is retroactive and is deemed to have come into force on December 31, 1999.

Explanatory Note

This Bill amends The Teachers' Pensions Act in several ways:

  • It adds a provision so that teachers who retire before turning 65 will be treated as not having retired if, within 30 days after retiring, they become re-employed as teachers.
  • It clarifies that periods of part-time and full-time employment are combined to determine whether a teacher has a sufficient length of service to retire and begin receiving a pension.
  • It limits the period during which a retired teacher under the age of 65 can teach while receiving a pension. The limit is 120 teaching days a year.
  • It gives the Teachers' Retirement Allowances Fund Board the authority to invest funds on behalf of the government and to administer other pension plans.
  • It provides for a one-time transfer from Account A (the account to which teachers' contributions are credited and from which pensions are paid) to the pension adjustment account (the account used to fund the cost-of-living adjustment).
  • It adds a provision to allow a teacher or former teacher to purchase, at the full actuarial cost, a period of past service as
    • a teacher on parental leave;
    • an employee under the minister responsible for education or advanced education;
    • a member of a university education faculty; or
    • a school clinician.
  • It updates and clarifies certain other provisions of the Act.