How Your Pension is Calculated
SFPP is a defined benefit pension plan. Your pension is based on a formula that includes your pensionable salary and years of service, not how much you've paid into the Plan. The longer you contribute to the Plan and the higher your average salary becomes, the larger your pension will be.
There are a number of tools available to estimate your pension:
- The Pension Estimator lets you compare retirement scenarios. Once you enter values for average salary, pensionable service and retirement age, the tool applies the pension formula to estimate your pension.
- The Pension Projection Calculator uses your actual salary and pensionable SFPP service to project your pension. You'll need to log in to the SFPP website use this calculator.
SFPP Pension Formula
The formula we use to calculate your pension includes your:
- Pensionable Salary
Your pensionable salary in the formula is determined by calculating your Highest Average Salary—the 5 consecutive years your salary was highest.
- Pensionable Service
The maximum pensionable service you can accumulate in SFPP is 35 years.
An important part of the Pension Formula is the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE). The YMPE is a figure, set each year by the federal government, which specifies the maximum earnings amount that can be used in calculating contributions to the Canada Pension Plan. In the pension formula, your Highest Average Salary is divided into two parts: the Highest Average Salary up to the matching average YMPE and the Highest Average Salary above the matching average YMPE. The years used in the matching average YMPE calculation correspond to the years used in your Highest Average Salary calculation.
As an example, the following are YMPE values for the most recent 5 years:
| Most Recent YMPE Values | |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $58,700 |
| 2021 | $61,600 |
| 2022 | $64,900 |
| 2023 | $66,600 |
| 2024 | $68,500 |
5-year average YMPE= $64,060
Bridge Benefit
On top of your lifetime pension, you may receive the Bridge Benefit, which is automatically applied to your pension until you turn 65. To estimate your pension benefit during those years, add the formula for the Bridge Benefit to the annual benefit you calculated above.
To calculate your individual Bridge Benefit value, use the matching average YMPE used in the Annual SFPP Benefit calculation. Your Bridge Benefit will be equal to 0.6% of that matching average YMPE multiplied by your years of pensionable service.
While using the formulas will give you an estimate of the SFPP pension you are entitled to, the final amount will depend on the pension option you choose when retiring.
How Working Part-Time Affects the SFPP Pension Formula
If you work part-time as a police officer, your service and salary are still the basis of your pension formula.
If you work full-time, you will earn one year of service per calendar year.
If you work part-time, your pensionable service is calculated based on the hours worked in that year (ignoring anything that is considered overtime), divided by the regular full-time hours for that position.
Pensionable Salary
When we work out your Highest Average Salary, we will "annualize" your salary for any years you work part-time. This means your pension calculation is based on what your salary would have been if you worked full-time.
How to Calculate Pensionable Service if You Work Part-Time
For example, if you worked part-time for one year with 20 hours per week, and the regular full-time hours are 40 hours per week, you would earn half a year of pensionable service in that year.
For example, if your salary is $45,000 in your part-time (0.5) position, your annualized salary is $90,000.