You will continue to receive your pension!

However, regardless of your age, you must:

• contribute to the Plan provided you earn more than the basic exemption of 3 500 $.

In return...

• Your retirement pension could be increased if you are not already entitled to the maximum.

You must apply in writing

You must file an application to have it cancelled no later than 6 months after your first pension payment. If your application is accepted, you will have to repay any benefits already received.

You believe you are entitled to a disability pension

If you have been receiving a retirement pension for less than 18 months, you can apply for a disability pension. You will have to prove that you became disabled no later than 6 months after the first payment of your retirement pension. If your application for a disability pension is accepted, you will have 2 months to cancel your retirement pension application.  

If you believe you are disabled, we invite you to consult our heading on the disability pension.

When you turn 65, you disability pension will automatically be replaced by your retirement pension.

If you are receiving indemnities from another agency, it could affect your eligibility for a retirement pension. Similarly, if you are receiving your retirement pension, it could affect the amount of various benefits.

You cannot receive your retirement pension before 65 years of age if:

• you are receiving an unreduced income replacement indemnity from the CSST;
• you are entitled to an indemnity from the SAAQ and we have deemed you to be disabled for the same disability.

Your retirement pension may affect the amount of various benefits  

• If you are receiving employment insurance benefits, they could be reduced because you are receiving a retirement pension, as they will be considered to be income.  

In some cases, it is advantageous to receive your retirement pension even if your employment insurance benefits are reduced. Do not hesitate to contact a Department of Human Resources and Social Development office to find out what is the most advantageous in your case.

Separation and partition of employment earnings

The earnings recorded under the names of both former spouses are added together for each year subject to partition, and are then divided equally between them. The new amounts will eventually be used to set the amount of benefits.

Former spouses will not receive any money before they become entitled to receive a pension from the Québec Pension Plan.

What happens to spouses who are married or in a civil union?

If the judgment was rendered in Québec, following a judgment of divorce, separation from bed and board, civil annulment of marriage, dissolution or annulment of civil union, the Régie automatically partitions the employment earnings on which the former spouses paid contributions to the Québec Pension Plan for the period of marriage or civil union, unless the former spouses have expressly renounced such partition. 

If the judgment was rendered outside Québec, the application for partition for the period of marriage must be filed with the Régie by one of the former spouses or by a legal representative. You can obtain the Application for Partition of Employment Earnings Between Former Spouses form on our Web site, by contacting the Régie or from your legal representative.


If you lived with your spouse in a de facto union before you marriage or civil union, you can apply for partition of the employment earnings recorded during the period of your de facto union, provided the judgment or notarized joint declaration of dissolution of civil union took effect after 30 June 1999. Your application must be made jointly and in writing unless your judgment expressly provides for partition during that period. You have 3 years from the effective date of your judgment to file your application.

What happens to de facto (common law) spouses?

De facto spouses who separated after 30 June 1999, can file a joint application for partition of their employment earnings for the period during which they lived in a de facto union.    

The de facto spouses may be of opposite sexes or of the same sex.

The application for partition must be filed within 4 years after the separation. It may be filed by only one of the former spouses if this possibility was provided for in a written and signed agreement.

 

You can get the Application for Partition of Employment Earnings Between Former Spouses form on the Régie's Web site.

What happens if one of the former spouses is already receiving a pension?

The pension amount will either increase or decrease after the Régie has carried out a partition of employment earnings.

You may request a simulated partition.

To take an informed decision, you or your advisor may apply for simulated partition. Choose the appropriate form:

• Application for simulated partition of employment earnings to be completed by one of the former spouses, a lawyer or a notary
• Application for simulated partition of employment earnings to be completed by the mediator

You probably contributed to the Canada Pension Plan. The Régie will take into account contributions made to both plans in determining entitlement to benefits and in calculating the amounts to be paid.

Where must you apply for your retirement pension?  

• If you live in Québec, you must apply for your pension from the Régie.
• If you live in another province, you should contact a Department of Human Resources and Social Development office. You may also contact this agency by phone at 1 800 277-9914. Service for the hearing impaired: 1 800 603-3540.
• If you are living outside Canada, you retain all of the rights you accumulated under both plans and you can apply to a receive a pension from the plan of your last province of residence in Canada.  

Pensions from some countries may be reduced if you are receiving a pension from Québec.

• If you are already receiving your retirement pension from the Régie, you will continue to receive it, regardless of where you live. The Régie can make your payments by direct deposit in several countries.

Where must you apply for your retirement pension?

• If you have always worked in Québec, but now live elsewhere in Canada, you therefore contributed to the Québec Pension Plan. You must apply for your pension from the Régie des rentes du Québec.
• If you have worked in Québec and elsewhere in Canada, and now live elsewhere in Canada, you therefore contributed to both the Québec Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan. You must apply for your pension from Department of Human Resources and Social Development. You can also contact this agency by phone at 1 800 277-9914. Service for the hearing impaired: 1 800 603-3540.
• If you have worked in Québec and elsewhere in Canada and now live outside Canada, you retain all of the rights you accumulated under both plans and you can apply to receive a retirement pension from the plan that applied in your last province of residence in Canada. If your last province of residence was Québec, you can apply for your pension from the Régie.

How to apply for your retirement pension

Use our on-line service for retirement pension applications to find out, in most cases, the amount of your pension. 

How will it be paid?

Your pension will be paid either by cheque or by direct deposit on the last working day of the month.

Take advantage of direct deposit!

Simply fill out the on-line Application for Direct Deposit.

Direct deposit - A safe and advantageous option for those who live outside Canada

In certain cases, your pension can be paid by direct deposit in US dollars or in the currency of your country of residence. This method of payment is safe and eliminates transaction fees for cashing cheques in Canadian dollars or other currencies.

You can receive a surviving spouse's pension and your retirement pension. In such a case, the Régie des rentes du Québec pays both pensions in a single amount. The two pensions are then said to be "combined".

The amount of a combined pension is not necessarily equal to the sum of both pensions, as it is subject to a maximum determined by law.

At age 65, if you are receiving the maximum retirement pension payable according to the age at which you began receiving it, your surviving spouse's pension may be reduced to zero.

The pension paid by the Régie will stop being paid as of the month following the death of the retired person.  

If you are his or her spouse, the Régie provides for a surviving spouse's pension. You could be entitled to it. Inquire right now.

Have you filed an application for retirement pension sharing between spouses ? Pension sharing ends at the end of the month following the death of one of the spouses. The surviving spouse will then be entitled to the same retirement pension amount, if any, that he or she was receiving before pension sharing began.

• The federal Old Age Security Pension will also stop being paid as of the month following the death.
• The retirement pension and the Old Age Security Pension are neither transferable to the surviving spouse nor to the heirs.