Severe weather flooded the ATA’s main office building, Barnett House on Friday July 10.
Crews and administration are assessing damage and determining reclamation of key electrical systems.
Staff have transitioned to working from home, and continue to serve members online and by phone.
The Southern Alberta Regional Office (SARO) in Calgary is unaffected and conducts business per usual.
Contact - Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund (ATRF)
ATRF is the administrator and trustee of the Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The ATRF website (www.atrf.com) has a myriad of information:
Also check out ATRF’s MyPension online services:
Registering for MyPension is easy:
Registration is complete!
ATRF pension counsellors are available for personal interviews at 1-800-661-9582.
I am a full-time teacher thinking of reducing my full-time equivalency (FTE). What effect will this have on my pension?
You have two options, which will both reduce your pension:
Be aware of other factors when considering these options. Contact Teacher Employment Services for advice.
Before you make a change to your FTE, you should also review your pension estimates using both options to see which will have a lesser effect. Also contact an ATRF pension counsellor to discuss those effects.
A strike will reduce your pension by both years of service and salary.
During a strike, a teacher’s daily rate of pay is 0.05 per cent, or 1/200 of annual salary. For example, for a 10-day strike, you would lose 10/200, or 5 per cent annual salary. You would also lose 0.95 of a year of pensionable service.
The length of the strike is not included in the calculation of your pension. From the above example, in calculating your pension, the missing 10 days would be used from the previous year to make up the 60 highest consecutive months’ calculation. This will likely be at a lower salary rate and will reduce your pension.
You cannot buy service lost as a result of a strike. But you have the option of retiring at a later date to make up lost service.
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) uses a maximum salary to calculate contributions to the plan. To keep up with inflation, the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) changes yearly.
All employees pay CPP contributions on salary up to the YMPE. That amount is also matched by the employer.
The CPP benefit (when received) is a calculation that pays 0.6 per cent of the YMPE.
The ATRF benefit (when received) is a calculation that pays 1.4 per cent of teacher salaries.
When combined with the CPP, both benefits mean that teachers can retire with 70 per cent of their pre-retirement income.
Capital Estate Planning offers the ATA group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) program through payroll deduction.
The plans with the group include more than 40 funds from a wide range of financial institutions.
Capital Estate Planning can help you find the best investment strategy for yourself. Contact them at www.capitalplanning.ca for more information.
Day-to-day substitute teaching does not qualify for pension contributions.
Pension contributions occur when a substitute teacher is on contract.
Substitute service can be purchased at a subsidized rate in 186-day blocks. You can purchase service in those blocks at any time in your teaching career. But any amount of service can be purchased at the time of retirement, also at the subsidized rate.
There are specific rules concerning pension funds and gaining access to them before retirement. Teachers are eligible for a pension after five years of service. The funds are then “locked in” and must provide retirement income.
Contact ATRF directly to enquire about your own pension funds at www.atrf.com or 1-800-661-9582.