Simon Fraser University Administrative & Professional Staff Association

SFU's health benefits and pension plans are the most comprehensive in Canada. From the Group Benefit Plan to time away from SFU to Insurance coverage and career development, you can be assured your needs from now until retirement and beyond are covered.

Summary of Group Benefit Plan

From MSP to Maternity/Parental leave information, this section covers a full listing of what SFU has to offer its employees. The Group Benefit Plan also includes effective dates of coverage and the cost of each benefit for both the University and the employee (if any).

• Continuing Members
• Temporary Members
• Extended Health and Dental Care Plan (PDF)

Time Away from SFU

Whether you're heading away on vacation or needing assistance to deal with personal challenges, benefits dealing with time away from work provide support when you need it. These include: 

• Vacation
  Temporary employees receive vacation pay of eight percent of wages paid bi-weekly. Continuing employees start at four weeks of vacation per calendar year.
• Long Term Disability
  The Plan provides financial protection for you by paying you a portion of your income while you are disabled beyond the time period covered under the short term Sick Leave Plan.
• Employee and Family Assistance Program
  Provides confidential, professional assistance to help staff and their spouses and dependants resolve problems that affect their personal lives or work performance.
  
• Group Registered Retirement Savings Plans - RRSP Detail
  SFU is providing the RRSP to help you save for a comfortable retirement. Your spouse can also benefit from the plan.

Insurance

 Life is unexpected and while no one can predict what may happen in the future, it's important to be prepared. SFU provides insurance in the form of home, life and accidental.

• Home owner's Insurance
  Whether you own a house, rent an apartment, or require high-valued home insurance, get the sound coverage you need at competitive rates.
• Basic Life Insurance
  The policy provides group term insurance to all eligible employees. Participation in the Group Basic Life Insurance plan is a condition of employment.
• Optional Life Insurance
  The plan provides an opportunity to purchase group life insurance. The insurance is payable in the event of death from any cause while in SFU's employ, other than suicide occurring within two years of the effective date of coverage.
• Basic Accidental Death and Dismemberment Policy
  The plan provides $10,000 of Accidental Death and Dismemberment protection to eligible employees. The insurance is payable in the event of a death or dismemberment while in the employ of SFU.

Education & Professional Development

SFU supports its staff in their career and personal development and seeks to help staff remain at the forefront of their respective disciplines. Therefore, the University provides financial assistance through the following benefits:  

• Tuition Waiver & Tuition Reimbursement
  For continuing full and part-time members, their spouses and dependants, the tuition waiver covers all SFU academic programs and credit courses. Continuing employees are eligible to apply for reimbursement of up to $1000/year for expenses for off-campus job-related courses.
• Reimbursement for Professional Development Expense
  This non-taxable benefit provides $700 per year, bankable to a maximum of $2,100, for expenses incurred by an employee for personal professional development expenses that are not directly related to his/her department.

Pension

The primary purpose of SFU's Defined Benefit Pension Plan is to provide lifetime retirement benefits to members in recognition of their service as employees of the University. As an APSA member and SFU employee working 35 hours biweekly or more, you are part of the SFU pension plan.

Our Defined Benefit Plan
A Defined Benefit plan means that upturns and downturns in investment markets, both while you work and after you retire, will not impact your basic pension income.

"Magic 80" formula
The amount of your pension is determined by a formula which takes into consideration your age and your best continuous average salary over the last five years. When your years of service and age add up to 80 (e.g. 25 years of service & 55 years of age) you can retire if you are 55 or older without the benefit being discounted.

Calculating Your Entitlement
1. Log into mysfu.ca
2. Click "pension projection"
3. Enter your desired retirement age and date
5. Click calculate to determine the value of your pension at that time.

Funding the Plan
The required contribution the employer contributes into the plan is determined by an independent actuary. The actuary determines the liabilities of the plan (i.e. the number of staff who will access the plan in the future), based on things such as the plan’s investment income, interest rates, mortality rates and wage increases.

Government guidelines ensure that plan is fully funded. The rate of contribution to the pension plan cannot fall below the rate the employer contributes to the faculty plan (approx. 12 per cent of your gross wages). Even if the value of plan exceeds the liabilities, the employer still has to contribute to the plan. If there is a surplus of more than 15 per cent, it is distributed to a separate money purchase plan (similar to an RRSP) for each member of the plan.

Governing the Plan
The SFU Pension Plan is jointly governed by appointed Pension Plan Trustees. APSA is one of the six trustees that must agree upon any changes to the plan. APSA also sits on the Joint Employee Pension Committee, which coordinates efforts to protect and improve our plan.

APSA Pension Committee Contacts
See APSA Pension Advisory Committee

SFU Pension Committee Contacts