CAAT – Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan (DBprime)
Ontario
Full pension and early retirement
You get a full pension, with no reduction, at the first of these:
- Age 65
- 85 points
- Age 60 with 20 years of service
Points are your age plus your years of service.
- Earliest retirement
- Age 50
- Retiring earlier
- Reduction set by age and service
- Pension formula
- 1.3% of your average pay up to the CPP earnings limit (YMPE) and 2% above it, for each year of service
- Bridge benefit
- Until age 65, reduced with the pension if you retire early
- Increases after you retire
- 75% of inflation
What retiring early costs: an example
Someone joins at 35, is paid $85,000 a year and works until each age below, so their years of service are their age less 35. Amounts are a year, before tax, in today's dollars.
| Retire at | Years of service | Reduction | Pension | Bridge to 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 20 | 15% | $20,700 | $8,200 |
| 56 | 21 | 12% | $22,500 | $8,900 |
| 57 | 22 | 9% | $24,300 | $9,700 |
| 58 | 23 | 6% | $26,300 | $10,500 |
| 59 | 24 | 3% | $28,300 | $11,300 |
| 60 | 25 | None | $30,400 | $12,100 |
Retiring at 55 instead of 60 costs twice: 5 fewer years of service, and the reduction on what is left. Early retirement reduction explains both.
What to copy from your paperwork
To use your own numbers in the income timeline:
Your annual statement shows the annual and monthly pension you have earned, payable at 65: enter the annual amount here. My Pension, in your CAAT account, gives estimates for the dates you choose, which you can enter under 'The amounts my plan quotes'. If it lets you add pay raises, leave them at 0%: this tool takes the amounts as today's dollars.
CAAT's own estimator: My Pension, in your CAAT account.
Where these rules come from
- Planning your retirement · CAAT Pension Plan
- Inflation protection · CAAT Pension Plan
- Member Handbook, DBprime
- Last reviewed October 22, 2026.
These rules are simplified. Your plan's own estimate is the one to rely on; see the disclaimer.