Cost of Living Adjustment Plan

The HEPP COLA Plan (COLA Plan) was established in 2010 to help provide more regular COLA benefit payments. The COLA Plan is separate from HEPP and is funded by equal contributions from employers and employees. Retired members do not contribute to the COLA Plan.

The COLA Plan comprises:

An Active Members Fund, for HEPP members who retired, or will retire, on or after October 1, 2009, and
A Past Retirees Fund, for HEPP members who retired on or before September 30, 2009.

Payments into the COLA Plan began in 2014 and COLA payments to retired members began in 2018.

COLA Plan Contributions

The COLA Plan contribution rate for both active members and employers is 1.0% of pensionable earnings. 90% of HEPP COLA Plan contributions go to the Active Members Fund and 10% of COLA Plan contributions go to the Past Retirees Fund.

You can see the total amount of your individual annual contributions to the COLA Plan on the Annual Pension Statement that HEB Manitoba provides for you each year. Your individual payments are not refundable when you terminate employment, retire, or die.

COLA Plan Benefit

The COLA Plan pays a COLA benefit to retired Pension Plan members in January each year, subject to approval by the HEPP COLA Plan Board of Trustees.

If you have received a monthly pension payment from HEPP for at least 12 months when a COLA is granted, you will automatically receive a COLA benefit payment.

The benefit will be paid as a one-time taxable lump sum, not monthly. Your regular monthly HEPP pension payments will remain the same.

The maximum COLA Plan benefit that may be payable in a given year will be two-thirds of the increase in the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) from April to April.

Your COLA is always granted based on your monthly HEPP pension in payment. It does not compound based on any previous COLA amounts but is added to your previous years’ COLA payments if applicable.

If the COLA Plan Funds do not have sufficient funds to grant a new COLA in any given year, your pension payments will continue as normal. Depending on the funds available, you might receive some or all of your previously granted COLAs as a prior COLA amount, even if a COLA is not granted in a given year.

COLA Plan Benefits and Relationship Breakdown

The COLA Plan is registered as a supplemental plan under the Income Tax Act but is not registered with the Pension Commission of Manitoba. This means it is not subject to the same rules as HEPP when it comes to such things as division of your pension if your marriage or common-law relationship breaks down.

If your relationship breaks down before you retire: A COLA granted from this fund is not transferrable to a spouse/common-law partner or beneficiary when you die.

If your relationship breaks down after you retire: Your former spouse/ common-law partner is not automatically entitled to any part of your COLA because the COLA Plan is not subject to the same rules as HEPP. However, their actual entitlement will depend on the agreement you negotiate with them.

Disclaimer - This website provides a basic overview of the Healthcare Employees' Pension Plan (HEPP) and the Healthcare Employees' Benefits Plan (HEBP) (collectively the HEB Manitoba Pension and Benefit Plans). Not all employers participate in all Plans. Please check your eligibility for benefits with your employer.

HEB Manitoba is a name notation registered by the Healthcare Employees’ Pension Plan – Manitoba and the Healthcare Employees’ Benefits Plan – Manitoba and under which each of their respective undertakings is carried out.

The information on this website is for convenience of reference only and has no official sanction. See our full disclaimer HERE.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

HEB Manitoba serves its stakeholders on Treaty Lands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10, the traditional territories of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininewuk, Dakota-Oyate, Denesuline, Nehethowuk Nations, Inuit, and the national homeland of the Red River Métis Nation.

HEB Manitoba is committed to moving forward in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration for the benefit of all people.