If the employee incurs a break in service, they must re-qualify to join the plan again. However, if the person is reinstated before a break in service they continue their membership.

Yes, if the employee has any RRSP room to contribute.
The employee’s RRSP room for a particular year is based on:

• their previous year’s earned income;
• any unused room the employee is carrying over from previous years;
• the RRSP limit for the particular year; and
• the previous year’s Pension Adjustment (PA) which is the total employee and the employer contributions to the MSPP.

Yes. If there is a signed Affiliation Agreement. Affiliation agreements permit non-union employees to join the MSPP. However, the union group must be in the plan.

Your collective agreement prescribes the earnings subject to pension contributions which are referred to as “Applicable Wages”. Generally, these include all remuneration payable to the employee except severance or termination pay paid as a lump sum

Please check your particular collective agreement for the definition of Applicable Wages.

It depends on the kind of leave and on the collective agreement.

Certain types of leaves have special rules about contributing. For example, for parental leaves, if the member chooses to contribute during the leave, then the employer is required to contribute.

Normally, members on a leave of absence without pay are covered by the Plan’s self-payment rules. These rules say that the member can choose to contribute to the Plan by paying the member share. They also have the option to pay the employer portion.

Income Tax rules require that members start to receive their pension by December 1 of the year they turn age 71. Since members cannot be in receipt of pension and contribute to the Plan at the same time, contributions to the Plan must stop by November 30th of the year the member attains age 71.

The MSPP is a multi-employer target benefit plan. It is a “target benefit” because the benefit may be reduced or increased based on the financial health of the plan.

No. There are no voluntary contributions to the MSPP.