Contributions made on your behalf by the church vest to you immediately. Therefore, upon termination all the funds in your account belong to you.
At termination you have several options:
(a) You may elect to leave the value of your required contributions and the church's contribution in the Plan to continue to grow until retirement at which time they would be converted into a pension payable for life.
(b) You may elect to transfer the value of your contributions and the employer's contributions made on your behalf to another pension plan or RRSP. Such a transfer would be subject to any applicable government law or regulation.
If you have made voluntary contributions to the Plan, the value of such contributions may be taken in the form of a cash refund, left in the Plan to grow until retirement as in (a), or transferred to another Plan as in (b) regardless of age, years of service with the employer, or years of membership in the Plan.
Depending on your age, length of Plan participation, and timing of contributions, a portion of your contributions (in excess of the voluntary contributions noted above) may be available for withdrawal. Sun Life will detail these amounts for you, if applicable.
Death Benefit Prior To Retirement
If you should die before you retire, your beneficiary will receive a cash benefit equal to the total value of your account. If the cash benefit described above is at least $1,000 and the beneficiary is your spouse, the cash benefit may be converted into an immediate or deferred pension benefit.
You may name a beneficiary to receive any amount payable under the Plan in the event of your death and you may change the beneficiary at any time subject to any legal restrictions. If a beneficiary is not named, any amounts will be paid to your estate.