6. Special Transfer Rules

Organizational Change Impacting Employees’ Pension Participation

If an employee is joining HOOPP as the result of an organizational change by their employer (such as a merger, amalgamation, sale of business or divestment), the usual pension transfer rules – which let members transfer pension service from their former pension plan to HOOPP upon a change in job – may not apply. Changes to the legal or operating structure of a HOOPP employer may impact the participation of employees in HOOPP, as noted in Section 2. Administrative Overview (Click Here). Your Regional Manager can assist you in understanding the impact to your employees (current, future and former) of your organizational change. Please contact HOOPP if you have employees who are enrolling or leaving your workplace as a result of organizational change so we can assist you in understanding whether special rules apply.

New HOOPP Employer with Prior Pension Plan

Where an employer changes the pension plan offered to its employees, there may be restrictions on when employees can transfer their prior plan benefit into HOOPP. Ontario’s pension laws apply special rules in this situation, where there is a continuous employment relationship and employees are eligible to participate in HOOPP for future service. If an employer offered a registered pension plan (Defined Benefit or Defined Contribution) before becoming a participating HOOPP employer, those members may not be immediately eligible to transfer their benefits under that plan. Details of the options available will be discussed during the employer application process and will depend on the type of existing pension plan the organization has in place and whether or not it is being wound up. In addition, pension legislation requires HOOPP to recognize periods of employment and membership in a prior registered pension plan (i.e., continuous service) as eligibility service in HOOPP. In order to accomplish this, you will be asked to provide HOOPP with membership information for employees who previously participated in that plan and are now enrolled in HOOPP. This supports their eligibility for HOOPP early retirement benefits and future buybacks of past service.

New participating employers must apply HOOPP’s enrolment rules to all employees eligible to join the plan, this includes employees hired before the organization joined HOOPP and who may not have been eligible to join the employer’s prior pension plan.

Wind Up of Predecessor Pension Plan

If you previously offered a registered pension plan prior to becoming a participating HOOPP employer and the prior plan is being wound up, please reach out to your Regional Manager for information and support. Your employees may now be eligible to transfer their prior plan benefits into HOOPP.