WHAT'S NEW

Pop-up Plan Office in Fort St James and Prince George

Pension specialists from the Plan Office of the IWA–Forest Industry Pension & LTD Plans will be holding presentations and one-on-one consultations with members in Fort St. James and Prince George this September.

The presentation will cover how the plan works, what retirement options are available to all members, and what will happen should you ever break service with the plan. At your 30-minute one-on-one consultation, we will review your pension file together and explain all options specific to you, so you know what to expect going forward. 

As limited times are available, you must reserve your spot, otherwise we cannot guarantee that a specialist will be available to meet with you. For presentation and consultation times and RSVP links, refer the the tables below:

Having trouble signing up? Call the Plan Office at 1.800.913.0022 or email pension@iwafbp.ca. 

Pension plan remains stable despite mill closures

In late spring, forest industry companies Tolko, Canfor, Conifex and West Fraser announced the curtailment and/or closure of five USW mills in BC. As a result, 450 active pension plan members lost their jobs in Quesnel, Kelowna, Vavenby, Chasm and 100 Mile House. Other non-USW mills have also announced closures and curtailments throughout the province.

While members have expressed concern about their future and the security of the pension plan, we would like to reassure all members that the pension plan remains stable. The pension plan is designed to accommodate “shocks” such as reduced contributory hours and market downturns.

Just like you, we do not know how many more members will be affected or how quickly the industry with recover, but we do test for it. Every year plan actuaries perform stress-tests on the plan to determine the health of the plan under a variety of factors. A decline in contributory hours has been anticipated and factored into the pension plan’s valuation. In one scenario, the plan remained fully funded on a going concern basis even when contributory hours decrease by two million hours (all else equal).

At its most recent valuation, the pension plan was fully funded (107.8%) on a going concern basis (which assumes the plan will continue indefinitely into the future) and 84.5% funded on a solvency basis (assumes the plan is wound-up immediately). Additionally, the current negotiated contribution rate is more than sufficient to meet the minimum funding requirements of the PBSA. We would need to see a combination of negative factors (mill closures plus negative investment returns plus a significant decrease to the discount rate) before we need to look at decreasing benefit levels.

The pension plan is a mature pension plan, with an aging demographic. This means it relies more on investment returns rather than contributions. Total plan assets are cresting—this is expected for a mature plan. The pension plan faced many mill closures in 2010, and we’ve been supporting members for many years since then.

We know this is a difficult time for many of our members. The trustees of the pension plan have a duty to act in the best interest of all plan members. The Plan Office has been traveling around the province to meet with affected members to discuss their options. If you have any questions about your pension, please contact us at pension@iwafibp.ca or 1.800.913.0022.

In the mail: confirming your pension

To ensure benefits are paid appropriately, the Plan Office regularly contacts members to verify their pension record. We recently mailed pension benefit confirmations to select members. If you received one of these forms, please complete and return it to the Plan Office using the enclosed pre-paid envelope. For your reference, you can view a sample form here. 

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. 

Pension Plan Annual Report 2018

We are pleased to present the pension plan annual report for the year ending December 31, 2018.

Introducing EmployerConnect, an online portal for participating employers

We're excited to announce the launch of EmployerConnect, an online portal for all participating plan employers of the IWA–Forest Industry Pension & LTD Plan Office. Employers can use EmployerConnect to securely and conveniently share their contribution reports and billing statements and communicate privately with the Plan Office. Employers, lookout for more details and log-in information in the mail in the coming weeks.  

Questions? Email contributions@iwafibp.ca. 

Spring/Summer 2019 newsletter

We are pleased to present the latest edition of our After Work^TM newsletter!

Qualifying deferred members now have access to their unlocked lump-sum benefit at any time

FICOM recently approved a rule change to article 15.08(a) of the IWA–Forest Industry Pension Plan text. What changed? Qualifying deferred members can now choose to withdraw the lump-sum value of their pension out of the plan, provided they meet the following conditions:

1. Broke service with the pension plan (i.e. are no longer active members),
2. Have not yet begun to collect a pension from the plan, and
3. Are entitled to a lump-sum benefit less than the legislated small benefit threshold, set at 20% of the YMPE.

Unsure whether this applies to you? Lookout for your annual statement, (to be mailed in early June 2019) or contact the pension department of the Plan Office.