Frequently asked questions

The University of Waterloo is currently exploring the option of joining the University Pension Plan (UPP) and is sharing these frequently asked questions to support that process.  

UPP is a jointly sponsored, multi-employer, defined benefit pension plan created by and for Ontario’s university community. UPP is open to all Ontario university sector employers and employees.

UPP launched in 2021 with three founding universities (Queen’s University, University of Guelph, and University of Toronto) and nine sector organizations. Today, UPP serves six participating universities and 21 sector organizations, with more than 46,000 working and retired members. As of December 31, 2025, UPP is fully funded with a 3% surplus and manages $13.5 billion in pension assets.

A jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP) is a type of defined benefit pension plan where employers and plan members have equal sponsor representation in decisions about the plan’s terms and conditions.

Several of Ontario’s large and established public-sector pension plans are JSPPs, including:

• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP)
• OPSEU Pension Plan
• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP)
• Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS)
• Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan

UPP is a jointly sponsored, defined benefit pension plan specifically designed and created for Ontario universities.

UPP is jointly sponsored by representatives of participating universities in equal partnership with member union and faculty association representatives. Together, these groups form UPP’s Joint Sponsors, made up of two committees: a six-member Employer Sponsor Committee and a six-member Employee Sponsor Committee (with Employee Sponsor seats evenly split between faculty associations and unions).

Under UPP’s joint sponsorship model, decisions are made on a consensus basis, meaning both the Employer and Employee Sponsors must agree before any changes are made – no single party can act on its own. This model is built into UPP’s legal framework and differs from single employer pension plans (SEPPs). In SEPPs, employers may have structures or committees to incorporate employee input, but they are not required to share decision-making authority.

Together, the Joint Sponsors share responsibility for all decisions about the terms and conditions of the UPP, including: 

• Setting contribution rates and benefit levels
• Defining the UPP’s Funding Policy
• Changes to the Plan Text or design
• When actuarial valuations are filed
• Approving new participating employers and sector organizations
• Appointing UPP’s Board of Trustees

UPP serves more than 46,000 working and retired members across six Ontario universities and 21 affiliated sector organizations. You can view a full list of UPP’s participating employers on their website.

UPP is administered and overseen by an independent Board of Trustees, appointed by the Joint Sponsors.

Like all pension plan administrators, the Board is legally required to act in the best interests of members and provides strategic direction and oversight of UPP’s key functions such as investments, actuarial valuations, and benefit payments. UPP’s Management team handles day-to-day operations of the Plan under the Board’s oversight.

Yes. UPP includes more than 6,440 non-unionized members from across participating universities. Many of these members are represented by the Ontario Association of Non-Unionized University Employees (OANUE), an organization created to ensure the pension interests of non-represented university employees in Ontario are heard and addressed. Non-unionized employees play an important role in UPP’s governance by recommending a non-unionized employee-nominated Trustee to serve on UPP’s Board of Trustees. That individual is appointed to the Board by the Employee Sponsor Committee.

UPP’s investment strategy focuses on three key objectives:

• Earning the returns needed to pay all promised pensions, now and into the future.
• Keeping benefits and contribution rates stable over time.
• Building a portfolio that can navigate changes in the global economy and broader world.

Visit UPP’s investment approach and investment beliefs web pages to learn more.

UPP considers factors that could have a material impact on long-term financial performance and the systems that influence financial markets. This includes environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors (e.g., climate risks, workplace practices, and how companies are managed) when investing and engaging with companies.

Learn more about UPP’s responsible investing approach.

UPP’s size, structure, and long-term approach provide multiple layers of protection. These include:

• Enhanced benefit security through risk sharing
  • UPP’s stability isn’t tied to the financial position of any single university. Costs and risks are shared across all participating employers and plan members, helping support the Plan’s long-term health and sustainability.
• A long-term, stable investment approach
  • UPP’s scale enables exposure to a wider range of investments – including private assets like real estate, infrastructure, and credit – that help balance the ups and downs of public markets. These types of investments tend to provide more stability over time and protection against long-term inflation and are typically harder for smaller plans to access. UPP also takes a leading approach to responsible investing, embedding material factors (such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations) across the portfolio to support long-term performance and sustainability. Learn more about UPP’s funded status and investment program.
• Career flexibility and pension portability
  • Members can move between participating employers and continue building their pension without interruption. Learn more about UPP’s pension portability.
• A strong Funding Policy
  • UPP’s Joint Sponsors oversee the Plan’s Funding Policy, which is a framework to guide the Joint Sponsors and Board of Trustees in the financial management of UPP. This includes decisions about contributions, risk sharing, and Plan design to help keep benefits stable and sustainable. The Policy also sets financial requirements for new employers joining the Plan to help protect long-term stability and fairness for all members. Any changes to the Funding Policy require consensus between the Employee and Employer Sponsors.

As a JSPP, financial risks, including any future funding shortfalls, are shared across all participating employers and members. This shared responsibility lowers financial volatility for individual institutions and helps maintain stable contribution levels.

Additionally, a JSPP like UPP benefits from special legislative rules that exclude the plan from solvency-based funding requirements and Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund (PBGF) assessment fees (SEPPs like the Waterloo RPP remain subject to these requirements).

UPP also includes safeguards for members and participating employers when new organizations join. All new plans entering UPP must be fully funded or have a plan aligned with UPP’s Funding Policy to reach full funding over an agreed period. This approach helps protect existing UPP members and participating employers from any past funding shortfalls from incoming plans.

When UPP calculates your eligibility for an early unreduced pension, it will add together your prior plan service and your UPP service. If Waterloo joins UPP, the pension you earned under the Waterloo RPP before joining UPP is preserved. The pension earned for service prior to joining UPP would be determined in accordance with the Waterloo RPP formula and the pension earned after joining UPP would be determined in accordance with the UPP formula.  

• Your eligibility for an early unreduced pension  
  • Eligibility for an early unreduced pension is generally based on your age and/or total years of service. If Waterloo joins the UPP, the early retirement provisions in the Waterloo RPP continue to apply to benefits earned before joining UPP. UPP rules would apply to any benefits earned after the transfer.  
• At retirement, you choose options for each portion
  • Because each portion follows its own rules, you will make retirement choices for both. This may include different pension payment guarantee periods or levels of survivor protection for your spouse, dependent children, or beneficiaries. Your retirement options package describes your choices in detail.  
• You receive one combined monthly pension payment 
  • When you retire, UPP calculates each portion of your pension based on its applicable rules and the options you choose. Once those amounts are determined, they are added together and paid to you as one monthly pension, with income tax applied to the total. 
•  Indexation is applied separately, but you’ll be notified for each portion 
  • Each pension portion may receive annual indexation increases based on its applicable plan rules. That means the timing or amount of indexation may differ between your prior plan pension and your UPP pension. You’ll receive separate notices when indexation is applied to each portion. 

  More detailed member scenarios are being developed and will be shared to show what this would look like.

Retirees (or survivors of retirees) in receipt of a pension from the Waterloo RPP, as well as former members entitled to a deferred pension from the Waterloo RPP would receive a consent package and are only required to respond if they wish to object (e.g., vote “no” to the change).

Consent requirements will be met if no more than 1/3 of inactive members (retirees, survivors and deferred members) submit an objection. In addition, 2/3 of active members must consent to the conversion

No. If the Waterloo RPP converts to UPP, there would be no change to your existing pension benefits. You would continue to receive your pension and an annual indexation (cost-of-living increases), but it would be paid from and administered by UPP instead of the Waterloo RPP.