The Fellowship Pension Plan is registered with Canada Revenue Agency, which allows tax deductibility of contributions. The Plan is also registered with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the administrative body charged with oversight of pension Plans operating within the province.
Participation in the Plan is open to employees of Fellowship Baptist Churches. In situations where provincial pension legislation in the province of residence differs from that of Ontario, those Plan members will be extended the local provincial entitlements.
Sun Life Financial provides investment management and record-keeping services for the Plan and Plan members. The Fellowship provides service to the Plan members for enrolment, retirement, termination, death, government reporting, general inquiries, collection and forwarding of contributions. Members are charged a $96/year fee for these services.
The Fellowship Pension Plan is administered by Mr. Rob Cole, our Fellowship Services Director. He can be reached at the Fellowship National Ministry Centre by phone at 519-821-4830 ext. 226, or by email.
Contributions
The annual contribution to the Plan, as required by the Plan, is a matching percentage between 1% and 9% of the employee’s salary. The suggested contribution is 10% of salary (basic salary plus housing allowance): 5% to be contributed by the church and the remaining 5% by the employee.
The Fellowship National Office has no way of determining your church/staff contribution level. All contributions received are split equally between member and church for pension accounting purposes, unless it is specifically noted on each remittance.
Regulations require that pension contributions must be forwarded to the Fellowship National Office no later than 30 days after the month end for which the contributions apply.
We prefer churches to utilize our Pre-Authorized Payment (PAP) service, which would withdraw the monthly contributions from the church’s bank account on the 15th of each month.
To increase the amount of retirement pension income, a member may make voluntary contributions up to the maximum permitted by the Income Tax Act. The church will not match such contributions. The maximum contribution is limited to the unused P.A. (Pension Adjustment) amount (after adjusting for any current year R.R.S.P. contributions). The unused P.A. amount is provided by Revenue Canada and is sent to you upon filing your last year's income tax.
Performance
Members may choose from a number of investment options provided by Sun Life. When a member enrols for Plan participation, a pension package will be sent to him or her with tools to assist the member in choosing the investment that best matches their needs.
Members are responsible for making investment decisions regarding their Plans. Members may change their investment options at any time through the Sun Life website. The system is fully automated and provides prompts for each step. If you need assistance, staff is available during normal business hours at Sun Life Financial's Customer Care Centre: 1-866-733-8613.
The annual statement sent to members from Sun Life lists current rates of return on all funds offered.
**Unit values and investment returns tend to fluctuate and are therefore not guaranteed by Sun Life Financial (formerly Clarica). Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Where funds are invested directly in the units of another fund, the rate of return for periods prior to the start of the Sun Life Financial fund is based on the return of the fund in which Sun Life invests.