Retire With a Bigger OMERS Plan Pension

If you belonged to another pension plan or you worked for an OMERS employer but were not in the pension plan or had an unpurchased leave or cashed out your OMERS pension, you may be able to transfer or buy back that service and convert it to OMERS Plan credited service. This will increase your pension and may allow you to retire earlier without a reduction.

How do I increase my pension?

Transfers

OMERS can accept transfers from most Canadian public and private sector registered pension plans, which may enable you to bring your pension from your previous employer into the OMERS Plan. Contact OMERS Member Services to find out if your pension can be transferred.

Buy-backs

Types of service you can buy back to increase your OMERS Plan credited service are:
Refunded service after 1991 (including a waiting period) with another registered pension plan.
  • Leaves with an OMERS employer you didn’t purchase before the purchase deadline. For example, a pregnancy and parental leave that ended more than two years ago.
  • Eligible service with an OMERS employer – including a post-1991 waiting period to join the OMERS Plan or previously refunded service.
  • A shortfall in transferred service – when the amount you transferred into the OMERS Plan from another registered pension plan didn’t buy the same amount of OMERS Plan credited service.

Starting January 1, 2020, if you rejoin the OMERS Plan after transferring the commuted value (CV) of your pension out of the OMERS Plan, you will have to wait five years from when you transferred your CV before you can buy back the associated service.

If you think you have service that you can buy back, contact OMERS Member Services to see if it’s purchasable.

What Happens to Your Pension When You Die
Invest in the OMERS Fund with AVCs