Through the process of determining how we best serve you, we learned how important it is for you, plan participants and participating schools, to keep the same excellent customer support you’ve received from the CSI Team in previous years. The CEB Services team is made up of dedicated professionals passionate about seeing Christian Education thrive. The team’s deep familiarity with the unique needs of Christian school employees makes them an invaluable resource for you - our plan participants and schools. Our CEB Services team is fully ready to serve you and answer any questions you might have.

Christian Education Benefits Solutions Society is the Canadian Sponsor of the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension Plans. The Society is represented by a Board made up of people skilled in pension or health insurance plan administration, former Trustees, Christian educators, and former members of Christian educational organizations. Their role is to

• appoint the Trustees;
• approve plan design changes to the Christian Education Pension Plan;
• serve as an appeal board with respect to the decisions of the Trustees affecting beneficiaries of the Plans; and
• serve in an advisory capacity to the Trustees as the Trustees require.

The Trustees are responsible for the management of the Trust Funds and the administration of the Plans. The Trustees managing the Christian Education Benefits Solutions Health and Pension Plans actively ensure that the plans meet the needs of participating schools and individuals and advocate on behalf of plan participants.

The Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension plans are managed by a Trustee board made up of Canadian Christian educators, current and former plan participants as well as former members of Christian School Boards. Each Trustee member is passionate about ensuring that Christian education flourishes in Canada and has relevant experience with the plans and/or skills in accounting, business management, law, and teaching.

There are several advantages that Christian education staff enjoy when they partner together through the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Pension and Health Plans.

1. The plans provide more flexibility in design and coverage options than what a school could achieve on its own. The flexibility allows individual employees to buy up or down to other plans based on their circumstances.

2. The plans are cost-effective due to the collective buying power of the plan participants.
We can self-fund the health and dental plans due to the size of our community, creating even more savings for education organizations.

3. Shared claim experience reduces each school’s individual risk from their own potentially volatile claims experience and the corresponding rate volatility. The larger the group, the more stable the rates.

4. Benefits plans are complex and require the investment of time and energy to ensure they are meeting plan members’ needs and being well used by plan members. Through Christian Education Benefit Solutions, you tap into a team of Trustees, staff, and benefits professionals like Mercer and Manulife, to ensure the plans are functioning well and anticipating future needs.

For the Pension Plan, working together helps to minimize risk with a defined Benefit Pension Plan

1. Minimize Investment Risk - The investment risk is shared amongst all of the participants; (2) pension participants don't have to worry about or attempt to manage the investments as they do in an RRSP type plan; and (3) all of the pension investments are overseen by a Board of Trustees and professional money managers.

2. Minimize Retirement Risk - When it comes time to retire, participants don't have to worry about the volatile investment markets impacting whether they can retire or not.

3. Minimize Longevity Risk - Retirees can be confident they won't outlive their retirement account!

Right now. Even if you begin with small amounts regularly, the habit you create will pay off in the long term. Time is one of the biggest factors in creating a sizable retirement nest. The more time you have, the better. But remember, you can’t change yesterday. If you haven’t already started, don’t be discouraged. Just start now.

The amount should be meaningful but not so large that it causes financial strain. If you are uncomfortable with the amount you’re saving, you will tend to stop saving altogether. Make it an amount you can continue to put away regularly without detriment to your ability to budget currently. At some point in the future, increase the amount and then continue at the new level. Making several small steps in the future will help immensely in the long run without discouraging the habit of saving.

There are multiple ways to start saving, including pensions, RRSPs, investment portfolios, and saving accounts. Any means that is feasible and financially right for you and your situation, is one step in the right direction in preparing for your future.

You have flexibility in choosing your retirement date. Most people retire when they turn 65, but you can retire as early as 55 if you are not actively employed by a participating school. You can also choose to delay retirement past the normal retirement age. However, there are factors you should consider when deciding to retire, such as a reduction in your benefit or opportunities for growth.

You can retire as early as 55 if you are not actively employed by a participating school. However, your monthly pension benefits would be lower than if you retired at 65, or at 62 with 30 years of service. Before 30 years of participation, the reduction in your benefit is 6% per year before the age of 65. After 30 years of participation, your benefit is unreduced at age 62 or older.

Most people retire when they turn 65, and for our plan, the normal retirement date is the first day of the month following your 65th birthday. If you choose to retire later than the normal retirement date (or your last day of work, whichever comes later), your monthly pension benefits may be higher. This is because your benefit is calculated by your final average earnings (FAE) and years of pensionable service. For example, if you receive a pay increase at 63, your benefit would be calculated higher. Or if you work an additional two full-time years, you would receive an additional 2 years of credited service.

Your benefits are guaranteed for life. Your pension is a target defined benefit plan, which means your monthly payments are calculated based on a specific formula, not by how much money you’ve invested. You’ll continue to receive benefit payments as long as you live.

The Christian Education Pension Plan is managed by professional fund managers who invest the money in a diversified portfolio of assets. These funds are structured to provide long-term growth while managing risk, which helps ensure that the money is available when you retire.

If you have made contributions to the pension plan, you have benefits in the plan. You may also contact your school for more information. If you need additional assistance, please contact the employee benefits office at 877-274-8796. A member of our team would be happy to answer your questions.

Your benefit is calculated using the following formulas:

For service before September 1, 2010:

For service on and after September 1, 2010:

The final average earnings number is calculated by reviewing your most recent 20 years in the plan and using the three or five consecutive years with the highest average earnings.

Note: Since part-time employment is accounted for in adjusted credited service, part-time salaries are multiplied by the necessary factor to be equivalent to full-time employment salaries for the purpose of determining FAE.

While not employed at a pension participating school your pension will not be accrued. If you return to work at a pension participating school your pension will begin accruing again.

Taking your annual vacation allotment will not impact your pension earnings.

Your Final Average Earnings (FAE) deal with inflation while in the plan. Personal savings and government funding sources will help with inflation during retirement. Our retirement benefit is not indexed.

You can protect yourself from inflation in retirement by contributing to an RRSP or other investment vehicle.

If you terminate employment and begin receiving pension benefits before age 65 and subsequently return to employment with a participating employer, your pension benefit will be subject to suspension upon completion of 60 full-time equivalent days and/or upon earning 35% of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (35% of the YMPE for 2024-2025 is $24,628). The YMPE is set each year by Canada Revenue. If suspended, your benefit payments will stop for the remainder of the plan year (through August) and you will be required to contribute based on your earnings for the remainder of the plan year. In September, your pension benefit will be restarted and any additional benefit accrued during your suspension will be added to your pension.

If you terminate employment and begin receiving pension benefits after age 65, your benefit is not subject to the suspension rules, so you can return to work and continue receiving your pension. You would not be eligible to contribute to the pension plan because you cannot receive and accrue benefits at the same time.

No, you can’t. Your benefits are guaranteed for life. Your pension is a target defined benefit plan, which means your monthly payments are calculated based on a specific formula, not how much money you’ve invested. You’ll continue to receive benefit payments as long as you live.

Our plan includes survivor benefit payment options, providing a pension to your spouse (and sometimes children in certain cases) after your death. To ensure your dependents will be cared for, it’s worth taking the time to review your plan documents carefully, designate your beneficiaries, and seek independent financial advice before selecting your pension payment option.

“For life only” means that your pension payments will continue as long as you live. When you pass away, the payments will stop. You’ll receive your benefits for the rest of your life, but your spouse or beneficiaries will not receive any payments after your death.

The funds are managed by experienced professionals and invested across a diverse portfolio, which helps to reduce risk. Pension trustees closely monitor the investments, comparing the plan’s returns to market benchmarks. Trustees can replace investment managers if the investments don’t provide the appropriate level of return.

You can find a detailed list of the plan’s investments in the annual Audited Financials.

As part of our marketing efforts, our insurance consultant Mercer, compares our plans to the respective school’s plans. Our plan typically ranks higher in both benefit levels and affordability.

Our plans are very competitive and offer a wide choice of plans and plan options to best meet the needs of our participants.

In addition to health, dental, disability and basic life insurance coverage, schools may elect options such as an Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), Occupational Coverage, and Health Care Spending Accounts (HCSA) for their employees.

Individual employees may elect additional coverage for Critical Illness and Optional Life Insurance, for employee, spouse, and/or children. Retiree coverage (health and dental) is available upon retirement.

Extended health benefits supplement your provincial health plan by covering a wider range of healthcare services. They can help manage expenses the government doesn't typically cover, such as prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, paramedical services, hospital accommodation, medical equipment and supplies, ambulance services, and travel insurance.

The Christian Education Health Plan offers five Flex plans for extended health benefits, with various levels of coverage designed to fit a variety of needs.

Over 100 Christian education organizations participate in our world-class benefit plans. Specific eligibility requirements are determined by participating schools and can be found on our website.

To learn more about joining the plan, contact our Pension & Insurance Account Manager, Todd Schilthuis.

We're here to help! Our sole purpose is to help Christian education organizations provide quality, tailored pensions and health benefits for their staff. Contact our Pension & Insurance Account Manager, Todd Schilthuis, to learn more.