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Archived - Annual Report of Canada Pension Plan 2003-2004
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The Canada Pension Plan in Brief
Almost everyone who participates in the paid labour force in Canada contributes to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or to its sister plan, the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), and will at some time benefit from their provisions.
Established by an act of Parliament in 1965 and implemented in 1966, the CPP is a jointly managed federal-provincial plan. Quebec manages and administers its own Plan, the QPP, and participates in the decision making of the CPP. Benefits from either Plan are based on pension credits accumulated under both. The Plans are financed through mandatory contributions from employees, employers and self-employed people, as well as from investment income. (Information on the QPP is available from the Régie des rentes du Québec at www.rrq.gouv.qc.ca 
.)
While it is perhaps best known for its retirement pensions, the CPP also provides children’s, survivor, disability and death benefits. The CPP administers the largest long-term disability insurance plan in Canada. Vocational rehabilitation services offered under the Plan help some disability beneficiaries regain their independence by helping them to return to the labour force, following a customized return-to-work plan.
Benefit calculations are based on how much and for how long a contributor has paid into the CPP, and in some cases, the age of the beneficiary. Benefits are not paid automatically—everyone must apply and provide proof of eligibility. Benefits are adjusted in January of each year as needed to reflect increases in the average cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
Many Canadians live and work in other countries. Others move here after contributing to a public pension plan elsewhere. To help protect their pensions, Canada has entered into social security agreements with other nations. These agreements enable Canadians to receive public pensions from other countries and may help them receive Canadian benefits abroad. They also permit continuity of social security coverage when Canadians are temporarily working outside the country, eliminate duplicate contribution payments, and help them meet eligibility requirements for some CPP benefits and for other countries’ public pensions.