OMERS – Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System
Ontario · 2 versions
OMERS has 2 versions, each with its own rules.
Normal retirement age 65
You get a full pension, with no reduction, at the first of these:
- Age 65
- 90 points from age 55
- Age 55 with 30 years of service
Points are your age plus your years of service.
- Earliest retirement
- Age 55
- Retiring earlier
- Reduced 5% a year under 65, 5% a point short of 90 or 5% a year short of 30 years of service, whichever is least
- Pension formula
- 1.325% of your average pay up to the CPP earnings limit (YMPE) and 2% above it, for each year of service
- Most service counted
- 35 years
- Bridge benefit
- Until age 65, reduced with the pension if you retire early. Its share of the reduction stays on the pension after it ends
- Increases after you retire
- 100% of inflation
for service after 2012, OMERS's section 48 makes an early pension the actuarial equivalent of the pension at 65, not 5% a year, and adds no increases between leaving and the start. It also pays no bridge on that service. Its factors aren't published, so this estimate is high for that service. Ask OMERS for the pension at the age you'd start it, and enter it in Detailed.
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 | 50% | $7,700 | $9,300 |
| 56 | 21 | 45% | $9,800 | $9,800 |
| 57 | 22 | 40% | $12,200 | $10,300 |
| 58 | 23 | 35% | $14,700 | $10,700 |
| 59 | 24 | 30% | $17,400 | $11,200 |
| 60 | 25 | 25% | $20,200 | $11,700 |
| 61 | 26 | 15% | $25,400 | $12,100 |
| 62 | 27 | 5% | $31,000 | $12,600 |
| 63 | 28 | None | $34,500 | $13,100 |
Retiring at 55 instead of 63 costs twice: 8 fewer years of service, and the reduction on what is left. Early retirement reduction explains both.
Normal retirement age 60: police, firefighters and paramedics
You get a full pension, with no reduction, at the first of these:
- Age 60
- 85 points from age 50
- Age 50 with 30 years of service
Points are your age plus your years of service.
- Earliest retirement
- Age 50
- Retiring earlier
- Reduced 5% a year under 60, 5% a point short of 85 or 5% a year short of 30 years of service, whichever is least
- Pension formula
- 1.325% of your average pay up to the CPP earnings limit (YMPE) and 2% above it, for each year of service
- Most service counted
- 35 years
- Bridge benefit
- Until age 65, reduced with the pension if you retire early. Its share of the reduction stays on the pension after it ends
- Increases after you retire
- 100% of inflation
for service after 2012, OMERS's section 48 makes an early pension the actuarial equivalent of the pension at 60, not 5% a year, and adds no increases between leaving and the start. Its bridge on that service is the actuarial equivalent of one from 60. Its factors aren't published, so this estimate is high for that service. Ask OMERS for the pension at the age you'd start it, and enter it in Detailed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 15 | 50% | $5,700 | $7,000 |
| 51 | 16 | 45% | $7,500 | $7,500 |
| 52 | 17 | 40% | $9,400 | $7,900 |
| 53 | 18 | 35% | $11,500 | $8,400 |
| 54 | 19 | 30% | $13,700 | $8,900 |
| 55 | 20 | 25% | $16,200 | $9,300 |
| 56 | 21 | 20% | $18,800 | $9,800 |
| 57 | 22 | 15% | $21,500 | $10,300 |
| 58 | 23 | 10% | $24,400 | $10,700 |
| 59 | 24 | 5% | $27,600 | $11,200 |
| 60 | 25 | None | $30,800 | $11,700 |
Retiring at 50 instead of 60 costs twice: 10 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:
The myOMERS Retirement Planner gives your pension for the retirement dates you choose: enter two or more, including your first with no reduction. Leave its salary increase at 0%: this tool takes the amounts as today's dollars. Your Pension Report gives the pension you have earned to date, which works too: choose 'The pension I've earned so far'. If an amount includes the bridge, enter it as the pension until 65.
OMERS's own estimator: the myOMERS Retirement Planner.
Where these rules come from
Normal retirement age 65
- OMERS Primary Pension Plan, Amended and Restated as of January 1, 2021
- How your pension is calculated
- Last reviewed October 21, 2026.
Normal retirement age 60: police, firefighters and paramedics
- OMERS Primary Pension Plan, Amended and Restated as of January 1, 2021
- NRA for first responders
- Last reviewed October 23, 2026.
These rules are simplified. Your plan's own estimate is the one to rely on; see the disclaimer.