Retirement plans and disability

You have a disability? What do pension plans provide?

Québec Pension Plan

For severe and permanent disabilities, the Québec Pension Plan (QPP) pays a disability benefit to workers under 65 years of age who have contributed sufficiently. It also pays an allowance for disabled workers' children under the age of 18.

• To be eligible
  
  You must have contributed for at least:
  • 2 out of the last 3 years of your contribution period*
    
    or
  • 5 out of the last 10 years of your contribution period
    
    or
  • half of the years included in your contribution period and for at least 2 years.

  You must also be declared disabled by the Régie des rentes du Québec. For example:

  • your disability must be severe and permanent
    
    and
  • you must be incapable, due to your state of health, of doing any type of gainful work, that is, work where you would earn more than $14,225 a year, in 2012.

  * Your contribution period begins in the month following your 18th birthday, or on January 1, 1966, the date the Plan started, if you turned 18 before that date. Your contribution period ends in the month during which the Régie considers you to have become disabled.

Currently, a beneficiary of a retirement pension paid under the Plan cannot receive a disability pension. However, as of January 1, 2013, retirees under age 65 will be able to receive an additional amount for disability if they become totally disabled. The amount will be paid to retirement pension beneficiaries who contributed to the Plan for 4 of the last 6 years and who can no longer cancel their application for a retirement pension in order to receive a disability pension.

The eligibility requirements for a disability pension are less strict for people age 60 and over. Those requirements have not changed. However, one condition has been added. As of January 1, 2013, contributors aged 60 to 65 who are deemed to be disabled because they are unable to do their last job will have to prove that they recently worked. In order to be eligible based on this criterion, a contributor must have contributed to the Plan for at least 4 of the 6 years preceding his or her disability. The eligibility requirements in the case of severe and permanent disability will remain the same.

Important...

• Being declared disabled by another organization, such as an insurance company, does not automatically grant you the right to the QPP disability pension. The criteria may be different.
• In the medical assessment of your capacity to work, the Régie des rentes du Québec looks only at your state of health.
• If you are age 60 to 64, you may be eligible for a disability pension if you had to leave your usual employment as a result of your health and you are no longer able to perform your usual work.
• If you have ever contributed to the Canada Pension Plan, or to a pension plan in a country with which the Québec or federal government has established a social security agreement, those contribution years can be added to your QPP participation and entitle you to the disability pension.

How much will you receive?

The amount of the disability pension is made up of 2 parts:

• a fixed portion of $445.47 and
• a portion equal to 75% of your basic pension.

The maximum monthly amount in 2012 is $1,185.47.

To get an estimate of your disability pension, consult your statement of participation. The Régie des rentes du Québec automatically sends it to contributors every 4 years.

You can also request a copy at any time.

The disability pension is payable as of the fourth month following the month in which you became disabled.

All QPP pensions are indexed in January of each year in order to account for inflation. They are also taxable.

When you reach 65 years of age, your disability pension will automatically be replaced by a retirement pension. You will also probably be entitled to the Old Age Security pension from the federal government. For more information on the OAS pension, consult www.servicecanada.gc.ca under the heading "Seniors".

You have dependant children under the age of 18?

If you are granted a disability pension, your dependent children under age 18 will be entitled to a pension for a disabled person's child. This pension, which is added to your disability pension, is $224,62 a month for each child, in 2012.

The Régie will consider the "child of a contributor" to be:

• the contributor's minor biological or adopted child
• the minor child who has lived or was living with the contributor for at least one year, if the contributor serves or was serving as mother or father to the child.

For more information on the disability pension from the Québec Pension Plan, consult www.rrq.gouv.qc.ca/en under the section entitled "Disability".

Canada Pension Plan (CPP)

If you work somewhere else in Canada, you probably contribute to the Canada Pension Plan. This plan also pays a disability pension, but the legislative provisions that govern this pension are different than for the QPP.

For more information on the Canada Pension Plan, consult www.servicecanada.gc.ca under the section entitled "People with Disabilities".

Private pension plans

If you participate in a private pension plan, you could be eligible for a disability pension. Check with your plan administrator to find out whether such a pension is available.

Other benefits in case of disability

In addition to pension plan disability benefits, there are also those provided by various other organizations.

Insurance companies

Some insurance companies offer individual or group disability insurance. If you hold this type of insurance policy, check with your insurance company for the applicable eligibility conditions and benefit amounts. If you are entitled to both the disability pension from the Québec Pension Plan and from your insurance company, it is possible that the benefits paid by the insurance company will be reduced by the amount of your benefits from the QPP.

The Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST)

The CSST provides benefits to persons who become disabled due to a work-related accident or disease. For more information, check with your employer.

The Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ)

A person that becomes disabled due to a traffic accident must apply to the SAAQ. For more information consult www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en, under the section entitled "Accident Victim".

The Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale

The Québec government offers financial assistance to persons without any income. A person that becomes disabled and who is not eligible for any disability benefit can obtain financial assistance from the Ministère de l'Emploi, de la Solidarité sociale et de la Famille. For more information, consult www.mess.gouv.qc.ca/Index_en.asp under the section entitled "Financial assistance".

Assistance for victims of criminal acts

Québec has implemented measures intended to help and compensate victims of criminal acts. For more information, consult www.ivac.qc.ca under the section " Victimes d'actes criminels " (French only).

Worth knowing about...

• Each plan or program has its own definition of disability. Hence, you must check this definition with each potential organization that could eventually pay you a benefit.
• The disability pension payment could be for a limited duration. Make sure you know all the payment conditions, right from the start.