General Synod pension fund changes to cost more, pay less

The pension fund for the Anglican Church of Canada, including clergy across the country, is going to cost more and return less.

The Council of General Synod (CoGS) has approved changes that will increase the employer contribution paid by dioceses and reduce the amount of pension earned by plan members. The employer contribution will be increased to 11.2% of pensionable earnings in 2010 and up to 12.4% in 2011.

The amount of pension earned for members will be reduced from 2% to 1.8%. “The pension an employee earns next year will be 10% less than the pension they earned this year,” said Judy Robinson, director of pensions.

The pension plan changes were necessary to offset asset losses resulting from the financial market crisis. The changes also address the fact that the average age of the 2,000 plan members is increasing and is now 51.9 years. The older the average employee population, the more it costs to provide the pensions earned by the members, said Robinson.