Retirement pension supplement
Are you already receiving your retirement pension under the Québec Pension Plan (QPP)? You can work and continue to receive it.
These contributions entitle you to an increase in your retirement pension: the retirement pension supplement. You do not need to file an application for it, because you will receive it automatically as of the year following the one during which you made contributions. If you are age 65 or over, you can choose to stop contributing to the QPP. As of 1 January of the year following your 72nd birthday, you automatically stop contributing to the Plan.
Calculation of the retirement pension supplement
Only your employment earnings that exceed $3500 per year are taken into account in the calculation of the retirement pension supplement. If your earnings for the year are higher than the maximum pensionable earnings, the maximum will be used to calculate your pension.
Contributions and retirement pension supplement
| Pensionable earnings | Contributions | Retirement pension supplement (per year, for life) |
|---|
| Employees | Self-employed workers |
|---|
| $10 000 | $416 | $832 | $43 |
| $25 000 | $1 376 | $2 752 | $142 |
| $40 000 | $2 336 | $4 672 | $241 |
| $65 000 | $3 936 | $7 872 | $406 |
The supplement paid in 2024 will be equal to 0.66% of the earnings on which you contributed in 2023.
Example of the supplement increase in the long term
Guylaine, age 65, pays $1000 in contributions to the QPP in 2023. As of 2024, she will receive $103 per year ($9 per month), which will be added to her retirement pension. The amount will increase each year because it is adjusted to the cost of living. If the increase is 2% each year, Guylaine will receive $105 the following year, then $107 the year after, etc.
Thanks to the contributions paid in 2023, Guylaine will have received in total:
- $1000 after 9 years;
- $2000 after 17 years;
- $3000 after 23 years;
- $4000 after 29 years.
Therefore, if Guylaine lives at least until age 74, her contribution will have been worth it. The longer she lives, the more her contribution will pay off.
What you should know about the amount of the retirement pension supplement
Here is information worth knowing about regarding the retirement pension supplement:
- The supplement is added to your pension for the rest of your life.
- It increases each year in January because it is adjusted to the cost of living as of the year following the first payment.
- It is payable as of 1 January of the year following the one during which you made contributions. It usually takes a few months before we receive from Revenu Québec the information required to calculate it. You will then receive an amount that corresponds to the amounts owing retroactive to 1 January. You are entitled to it if you work in Québec, even if you are receiving a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan.
- You will receive each year new supplements that will increase your pension as long as you continue to make new contributions.
- Your pension will increase, even if you are already receiving the maximum pension each month.
- Part of the retirement pension supplement may be paid to your spouse after your death.
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