Long-Range Policy
6.A.1 A teacher’s pension is an earned right to be exercised after specified conditions of length of service and age are met.
[1970/90/99/09]
6.A.2 A teacher’s pension after 30 years of service should be sufficient to allow teachers to live their retirement years in dignity and in a manner that approximates that to which they were accustomed as active teachers.
[1970/90/93/99/2009]
6.A.3 Teachers’ pensions should be provided through a fully funded compulsory defined benefit plan established by an act of the Legislative Assembly and administered by a board of administrators consisting of equal representation by appointees from the Association and the Government of Alberta, and the plan should be open only to holders of valid Alberta teaching certificates.
[1970/90/93/99/2009]
6.A.4 A pension plan for Alberta teachers should have provisions and features that allow for
1. contributions from government and employees;
2. equal pensions for men and women;
3. a pension without actuarial reduction payable at or after age 55;
4. a pension of approximately 75 per cent of salary after 30 years of service;
5. calculation on the basis of the average of the highest three years of salary;
6. a variety of pension options;
7. waiver of contributions during periods of disability;
8. payment of pension earned to a surviving spouse or other dependent;
9. automatic adjustment to pension relative to 100 per cent of the cost of living provided that the pension not be decreased;
10. pension contributions for service with the Canadian International Development Agency or for other educational service, or ability to purchase this service if provided prior to membership in the plan;
11. pension contributions for periods of Canadian or allied military or other approved service, or ability to purchase this service if provided prior to membership in the plan;
12. vesting after two years of pensionable service;
13. refund of contributions plus interest or at full commuted value;
14. reinstatement of service into the plan, on application, at no cost to the plan;
15. locking-in of contributions for provision of a future pension;
16. reciprocal agreements with other approved pension plans;
17. the option of contributing to the fund for any period of contributory service lost due to the teacher’s involvement, as a member of a teacher bargaining unit, in a work stoppage resulting from strike or lockout which is permitted under the Labour Relations Code;
18. the indexing of the salary used to calculate a disabled teacher’s pension at retirement to a salary paid to active teachers; and
19. decking of the Canada Pension Plan with the teachers’ pension plan.
[1970/72/73/74/76/77/79/82/84/86/88/89/90/93/99/2009]
6.A.5 There should be no time limits with respect to transfer of service in reciprocal pension agreements.
[1977/82/90/99/2009]
6.A.6 Teachers who have teaching experience gained within or outside Canada and not covered under a reciprocal agreement should be able to purchase pensionable service at no cost to the fund for those years of experience.
[1981/82/83/84/85/88/90/99/2009]
6.A.7 Teachers should be allowed to reinstate years of service in other plans for purposes of transfer of funds through the reciprocal pension agreements without returning to employment in that other plan.
[1985/88/90/99/2009]
6.A.8 Teacher employment by the Department of Education for the purpose of preparing or marking papers during nonteaching periods should be recognized as pensionable service, and school boards should be required, at the option of the teacher, to deduct the appropriate pension contributions for such service and to remit these contributions to the fund provided that no credit in excess of one year be permitted for any period from September 1 to August 31 following.
[1989/90/99/2009]
6.A.9 Teachers who have taken maternity, parenting or adoption leave or teach part-time during child-rearing years should be given opportunities to contribute to the plan and accrue pensionable service at the same rate as full-time active members.
[1989/90/99/2009]
6.A.10 Career and Technology Studies teachers who require trade or technical experience should be able to purchase pensionable service, at no cost to the fund, for those years of trade or technical experience granted as teaching experience for salary purposes.
[1987/90/99/2009]
6.A.11 For purposes of pension calculation, each year of a teacher’s highest years of salary shall be annualized.
[1993/99/2009]
6.A.12 Teachers granted paid professional improvement leaves pursuant to collective agreements between the Association and school boards should be permitted to contribute to the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund at the same rate as they would have paid if actively employed during such leave.
[1993/96/98/2001/09]
6.A.13 Teaching of high school credit courses to adults and other provincially approved programs of study for school boards should be recognized as pensionable service, and school boards should be required, at the option of the teacher, to deduct the appropriate pension contributions for such service and to remit these contributions to the fund provided that no credit in excess of one year be permitted for any period from September 1 to August 31 following.
[1990/93/96/99/2002/09]
Current Directives
6.B.1 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to enter into negotiations for the purpose of amending the teachers’ pension plan provisions to allow teachers who take leaves of absence to be given the option to contribute to the plan as if they were actively employed during such leave.
[2009]
6.B.2 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association press for immediate amendment to the Teachers’ Pension Plans Act that defines day-to-day substitute teaching as pensionable service and requires school boards, at the option of the teacher, to deduct the appropriate pension contributions for such service and to remit these contributions to the fund.
[1984/85/88/91/94/97/2000/03/06/09]
6.B.3 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to amend the Teachers’ Pension Plans Act, Alberta Regulation 203/05, to include Canada Pension Plan Disability as acceptable for accrual of service while disabled.
[2011]
6.B.4 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund to accept Canada Pension Plan Disability as a disability carrier for accrual of disability service under the Alberta Teachers’ Pension Plans Act and regulations.
[1999/2002/05/08/11]
6.B.5 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to allocate funds to eliminate the entire unfunded liability of the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund.
[1997/2000/01/04/07/10]
6.B.6 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to amend the Teachers’ Pension Plans Act to provide that a teacher who is at least 50 years of age with at least five years of service may retire and receive a pension that is the actuarial equivalent of the pension that would be payable had the age and service index been achieved.
[2006/09]
6.B.7 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to recognize that growth of the teachers’ pension plan contribution rate since 1992 is substantially attributable to the effects of government cuts and underfunding of public education from 1994 onwards and, therefore, that the Government of Alberta is responsible for the increased costs visited upon teachers as a result.
[2007/10]
6.B.8 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alberta Teachers’ Association urge the Government of Alberta to amend the Teachers’ Pension Plans Act to remove the Canada Pension Plan offset of 0.6 per cent of salary earned up to the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings so that teachers receive a full two per cent benefit per year of service with related costs to this amendment to be funded by the Alberta government for post-1992 service
[2010]
