R-9, r. 5 - Regulation respecting benefits

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter R-9, r. 5

Regulation respecting benefits

Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan

(chapter R-9, ss. 86, 95, 95.1, 98, 133.1, 139, 142.1, 150, 175 and 219).

DIVISION I GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. A person applying for a benefit provided for under the Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan (chapter R-9), or for a partition of a retirement pension or a partition of unadjusted pensionable earnings provided for under that Act shall provide Retraite Québec with proof of his right to such benefit or partition. A proof of civil status does not, however, have to be provided unless requested by Retraite Québec.

O.C. 967-94, s. 1; O.C. 279-99, s. 1.

2. Proof of birth, marriage, civil union or death shall be given by filing an act or certificate of civil status.

Proof of divorce, of separation from bed and board or of nullity of marriage shall be given by filing a certificate of divorce or a copy of the judgment attested by the public officer with whom it was deposited.

Proof of the dissolution or annulment of the civil union shall be made by filing a copy of the judgment of dissolution, the judgment of annulment or the notarized joint declaration of dissolution certified by the public officer with whom it was deposited.

O.C. 967-94, s. 2; O.C. 851-2009, s. 1.

3. Where information concerning the birth, marriage, civil union or death of a contributor or beneficiary is sent to Retraite Québec by an agency of the Government of Canada or the Gouvernement du Québec, that information constitutes proof of its import, unless Retraite Québec requires more convincing evidence.

O.C. 967-94, s. 3; O.C. 851-2009, s. 2.

4. A person who files an application on behalf of another person shall state the quality in which he is acting and, where so required by Retraite Québec, shall provide evidence thereof.

O.C. 967-94, s. 4.

5. Articles 2803 to 2874 of the Civil Code apply to any evidence required under the Act or this Regulation.

O.C. 967-94, s. 5.

6. An application submitted to Retraite Québec shall contain the name, address and social insurance number of the applicant, as well as the name, address and social insurance number of the contributor, where they differ from those of the applicant.

O.C. 967-94, s. 6.

6.1. Unless Retraite Québec requires the original, a reproduction of a document referred to in section 2 and in sections 15 and 21 may be provided in support of an application.

O.C. 867-2019, s. 1.

DIVISION II PAYMENT OF BENEFITS

7. Where a beneficiary must be represented or assisted because of his inability to manage his affairs, but no administrator has been legally designated to administer his property, Retraite Québec may designate any person to administer the benefits to which the beneficiary is entitled, and the rules set forth in articles 1308 to 1323 of the Civil Code apply to the person thus designated by Retraite Québec.

O.C. 967-94, s. 7.

8. Any benefit owing to a deceased beneficiary shall be paid to his heirs.

O.C. 967-94, s. 8; O.C. 279-99, s. 2.

9. A pension may, on written application to Retraite Québec, be paid semi-annually, by cheque or direct deposit, in June for the benefits payable for the months of January through June and in December for the benefits payable for the months of July through December.

Any pension of which the amount is less than $10 may also, on Retraite Québec’s own initiative, be paid semi-annually, in the said months.

Furthermore, a payment may be carried forward to the following 6-month period if the amount thereof is less than $2, provided such carrying forward does not exceed 5 years.

O.C. 967-94, s. 9; O.C. 279-99, s. 3; O.C. 851-2009, s. 3.

10. The interest provided for in section 143.0.1 of the Act shall be calculated daily to the ninth decimal place by dividing the interest rate in effect on the day of calculation by the number of days in the year in which that day occurs. If the tenth digit after the decimal point is greater than 4, the ninth digit shall be increased by one unit.

Once the interest payable has been calculated, only the first two digits after the decimal point shall be retained and, if the third digit after the decimal point is greater than 4, the second digit shall be increased by one unit.

O.C. 967-94, s. 10.

DIVISION III RECOVERY

11. Retraite Québec may make deductions from a benefit granted to a debtor to offset a recoverable sum, up to the highest of the following amounts:

(1)  25% of the benefit payable; or

(2)  1/12 of the recoverable sum, up to 50% of the benefit payable.

Retraite Québec may make deductions from up to 100% of a payable benefit in the following instances:

(1)  the debtor consents thereto in writing; or

(2)  the set-off provided for in the first paragraph does not appear to be sufficient to repay the recoverable sum in full, taking future payments of the payable benefit into account.

To offset the debt of a deceased contributor, Retraite Québec may also make deductions from the total amount of a death benefit payable in that contributor’s name, where the death benefit is payable to his heirs.

O.C. 967-94, s. 11.

DIVISION IV RETIREMENT PENSION

12. (Revoked).

O.C. 967-94, s. 12; O.C. 279-99, s. 4; O.C. 1051-2013, s. 1.

13. (Revoked).

O.C. 967-94, s. 13; O.C. 1051-2013, s. 1.

13.1. An application for a retirement pension may be made to Retraite Québec by telephone. In such case, the application is made the day on which the contributor expresses his desire to receive a retirement pension and provides the information required under the Act.

O.C. 851-2009, s. 4.

14. A contributor who is 65 years old or more, who has not filed an application for a retirement pension and who receives a surviving spouse’s pension is presumed to have filed an application for a retirement pension on the last day of the most recent of the following months:

(1)  the month preceding his 65th birthday;

(2)  the month during which his application for a surviving spouse’s pension is filed; or

(3)  January 1994.

A person who is 65 years old or more and becomes a contributor upon the partition of unadjusted pensionable earnings is presumed to have filed an application for a retirement pension on the last day of the month during which the partition of the unadjusted pensionable earnings is presumed to have been carried out.

O.C. 967-94, s. 14.

14.1. A contributor who is not the beneficiary of a retirement pension under the Québec Pension Plan and who is entitled to an additional pension in accordance with section 120.3 of the Act is deemed to have made an application for a retirement pension the last day of the first year for which unadjusted pensionable earnings are related to months subsequent to the end of his contributory period, under the terms of subparagraph a or b of the second paragraph of section 101 of the Act.

O.C. 851-2009, s. 5; O.C. 867-2019, s. 2.

15. The following information and documents shall be provided with an application for the partition of a retirement pension between married spouses or civil union spouses:

(1)  the name, address and social insurance number of each spouse;

(2)  the spouses’ certificate of marriage or civil union or the certificate of civil status of one of the spouses; and

(3)  in the case of married spouses, a statement by the applicant to the effect that he is not legally separated;

(4)  the period, if any, of conjugal relationship prior to the spouses’ marriage or civil union, which period shall be attested by the signing of the application by both spouses.

Where the application is made by de facto spouses, it shall be accompanied with, in addition to the information referred to in paragraph 1 of the first paragraph, the following information and documents:

(1)  the date on which the conjugal relationship began:

(2)  a statement that neither of the spouses is joined by marriage or civil union to another person;

(3)  a mention of any period during which the spouses did not live together in a conjugal relationship.

Where only one of the spouses receives a retirement pension payable under the Act, the birth certificate of the spouse who does not receive such pension shall be submitted with the application for partition, along with a statement that no contributions were paid for the spouse who is not the recipient of such pension under the Act or under a similar pension plan.

O.C. 967-94, s. 15; O.C. 279-99, s. 5; O.C. 851-2009, s. 6.

15.1. For the purpose of partitioning a retirement pension, de facto spouses are deemed not to have lived in a conjugal relationship during the period beginning on the first day of the month in which they stopped living in a conjugal relationship and ending on the last day of the month preceding the one in which they resumed living in a conjugal relationship.

O.C. 279-99, s. 6.

DIVISION V PENSIONS FOR ORPHANS, CHILDREN OF DISABLED CONTRIBUTORS AND SURVIVING SPOUSES

16. For the purposes of sections 86, 133.1 and 175 of the Act, a person is deemed to maintain a child if, in 2014, he supports the child for a monthly amount equal to or greater than one of the following amounts, adjusted by multiplying the amount by the ratio between the Pension Index for the year 2014 and the Pension Index for the year 2013:

(1)  where the child is less than 5 years old, $290;

(2)  where the child is at least 5 years old but less than 12 years old, $340;

(3)  where the child is at least 12 years old but less than 16 years old, $430;

(4)  where the child is at least 16 years old, $460.

For each subsequent year, the amounts are adjusted in accordance with section 119 of the Act.

Where the result obtained is a number containing one or more digits after the decimal point, no such digit shall be retained and, where the first digit is greater than 4, the number thus modified shall be increased by one unit.

For the purposes of section 175 of the Act, except where the person receives financial assistance for a child as a foster family or tutor, a person who resides with a child is presumed to support the child provided the disabled contributor or the surviving spouse, who does not reside with the child, does not maintain the child in accordance with the conditions set out in the first paragraph.

O.C. 967-94, s. 16; O.C. 279-99, s. 7; O.C. 1051-2013, s. 2.

DIVISION VI DISABILITY PENSION

17. For the purposes of the second and third paragraphs of section 95 of the Act, an occupation is considered substantially gainful if the person concerned would have earned from that occupation, had the person not become disabled, an income which, established on a yearly basis, would not have been less than $19,656 for the year 2022.

For subsequent years, the income considered to qualify an occupation as being substantially gainful under this section is adjusted yearly in such a manner that the income considered for a subsequent year is equal to the product obtained by multiplying the income considered for the year preceding it by the proportion that the Maximum Pensionable Earnings for the subsequent year is of the Maximum Pensionable Earnings for the year preceding it.

Where the result obtained is a number that includes one or more decimals, no decimal is retained and, if the first decimal is greater than 4, the number so modified is increased by one unit.

O.C. 967-94, s. 17; O.C. 867-2019, s. 3; S.Q. 2022, c. 3, s. 102.

18. For the purposes of the third paragraph of section 95 of the Act, a person’s gainful occupation is his usual occupation only where the person would have earned therefrom, had he not become disabled, an income which, established on a yearly basis, would not have been less than the basic exemption for the year in which the person became disabled.

O.C. 967-94, s. 18.

19. A person who applies for a disability pension shall authorize Retraite Québec in writing to obtain documents or information pertaining to the person’s physical or mental condition and held by any health institution or health professional.

O.C. 967-94, s. 19.

19.1. For the purposes of the third paragraph of section 96 of the Act, the disability end date is fixed at the expiry of the first 3-month period for which the average monthly income from an occupation, multiplied by 12, is equal to or greater than the substantially gainful occupation, defined in section 17.

O.C. 279-99, s. 8; O.C. 867-2019, s. 4; S.Q. 2022, c. 3, s. 103.

19.2. The request for transfer of the retroactive amount of a disability pension, which is referred to in the third paragraph of section 145 of the Act, shall

(1)  include the contributor’s name and social insurance number as well as the name and address of the administrator of the disability insurance plan;

(2)  authorize Retraite Québec to deduct, from the retroactive amount of the disability pension that may become payable to the contributor, the amount that must be remitted to the administrator of the disability insurance plan;

(3)  authorize Retraite Québec and the administrator of the disability insurance plan to provide to one another the information required to make a deduction from the retroactive amount and to remit the said deduction to the administrator;

(4)  include a confirmation, from the administrator of the disability insurance plan, of the monthly insurance benefit that would not have been paid under the said plan because of integration with the disability pension payable under the Act, as well as the period of integration for which the said benefit was paid.

O.C. 279-99, s. 8.

19.3. The deduction and remittance owing to the administrator of an insurance plan, as referred to in section 145 of the Act, may not be made except where the following conditions are met:

(1)  The contributor signed the request for transfer referred to in section 19.2 no more than 12 months prior to his application for a disability pension;

(2)  Retraite Québec received the request for transfer before the contributor was deemed to be entitled to a disability pension;

(3)  The amount of the deduction and remittance is more than $50.

O.C. 279-99, s. 8.

DIVISION VII PARTITION OF UNADJUSTED PENSIONABLE EARNINGS

20. For the purposes of the second paragraph of section 102.1 of the Act, where a judgment of divorce, of annulment of marriage or of separation from bed and board or a judgment of dissolution or annulment of civil union or a notarized transaction fixing the consequences of a dissolution of civil union does not state that a former spouse renounces his right to partition, proof of such renunciation shall be given by filing a copy of the act of renunciation, which must be a notarial deed registered in accordance with the provisions of article 423 of the Civil Code.

O.C. 967-94, s. 20; O.C. 851-2009, s. 7.

21. For the purposes of the second paragraph of section 102.5 of the Act, the following documents shall be provided with an application for partition:

(1)  a certified copy of the judgment of divorce, of annulment of marriage, of separation from bed and board or of a judgment having an effect similar to that of a judgment of separation from bed and board and, where applicable, a copy of any agreement between the former spouses;

(2)  a certificate attesting that the judgment is final;

(3)  an act establishing the age of each former spouse and issued by a government or by any other competent agency; where no such act can be provided, any other documentary evidence that may be accepted under the Civil Code; and

(4)  a writing establishing the social insurance number of the former spouse who is applying for partition and, where such information is available, that of the other former spouse;

(5)  Where the application for partition covers a period of conjugal relationship prior to marriage or civil union, the agreement referred to in section 22.3, which agreement shall accompany the application referred to in section 22.4.

O.C. 967-94, s. 21; O.C. 279-99, s. 9; O.C. 851-2009, s. 8.

22. When an application for partition is withdrawn in accordance with section 102.8 or 102.10.8 of the Act, Retraite Québec shall forthwith inform each of the former spouses at their last know addresses.

In order for partition to be carried out notwithstanding the withdrawal of the application, a new application for partition must be made.

O.C. 967-94, s. 22; O.C. 279-99, s. 10.

22.1. The time within which an application may be presented, in accordance with section 102.4.1 of the Act, for the annulment of a partition already effected shall be 90 days from the notice of partition mentioned in section 102.7.1 of the Act.

O.C. 102-97, s. 1.

22.2. Former de facto spouses are deemed, for the purpose of partitioning their earnings, not to have lived in a conjugal relationship during the period beginning on the first day of the year in which they stopped living in a conjugal relationship and ending on the last day of the year in which they resumed living in a conjugal relationship.

O.C. 279-99, s. 11.

22.3. The agreement on partition of earnings between former de facto spouses, including an agreement on partition for a period of conjugal relationship prior to marriage or civil union, shall include

(1)  the name, address and social insurance number of each of the former de facto spouses;

(2)  the beginning date of the conjugal relationship and, where known at the time of signing the agreement, the ending date of the conjugal relationship;

(3)  the beginning and ending dates of all periods of interruption of the conjugal relationship;

(4)  the provision, if any, that the application may be made by only one of the spouses.

O.C. 279-99, s. 11; O.C. 851-2009, s. 9.

22.4. For the purpose of section 102.10.7 of the Act, the application for partition shall include

(1)  the name, address and social insurance number of each of the former de facto spouses;

(2)  the name and address of each child born of their union or adopted jointly or of any child of one of them who was adopted by the other;

(3)  the beginning and ending dates of the conjugal relationship;

(4)  the signature of both former de facto spouses or of the spouse who, under the terms of the agreement referred to in section 22.3, is authorized to make singly an application for partition.

The application shall be accompanied with the convention on partition referred to in section 22.3, if any.

O.C. 279-99, s. 11.

DIVISION VIII CALCULATION AND ADJUSTMENT

23. For the purposes of sections 98 and 98.1 of the Act, where the basic exemption is a number containing one or more digits after the decimal point, no such digit shall be retained. Moreover, for the purposes of subparagraph 2 of subparagraph b of the first paragraph of each of those sections as well as subparagraph 2 of paragraph b of section 98.2 of the Act, the amounts of the earnings and contributions of a contributor under the Canada Pension Plan are those determined according to the provisions of that Plan and certified by the authority that administers that Plan.

O.C. 967-94, s. 23; O.C. 867-2019, s. 5.

24. Where the result of a calculation done in accordance with the following provisions of the Act is a number containing one or more digits after the decimal point, that number shall be rounded off as follows:

(1)  under sections 98 to 98.2, 102.3 and 180, no digit after the decimal point shall be retained and, where the first digit is greater than 4, the number thus modified shall be increased by one unit;

(2)  under sections 99 and 116.1 to 116.1.2, sections 116.2, 116.2.1 and 116.2.2, except insofar as elements “G”, “G′” and “G″” in each of those sections are concerned respectively, sections 116.5, 116.6 and 119, the first and second paragraphs of section 120, the second paragraph of section 120.3, section 120.4, paragraph b of section 123, section 124, the first paragraph of section 133, section 134, the first paragraph of section 135, subparagraphs a and b of the first paragraph of section 136 and sections 137 to 138 and 179, only the first 2 digits after the decimal point are retained and, where the third digit is greater than 4, the second digit shall be rounded up;

(3)  for the purpose of calculating elements “G”, “G′” and “G″” referred to in sections 116.2, 116.2.1 and 116.2.2 respectively, and after making the calculations referred to in sections 116.3 and 116.4 with regard to element “G”, no digit after the decimal point shall be retained and, where the first digit is greater than 4, the number shall be increased by one unit;

(4)  under sections 106, 106.1, 107 and 107.1, the number shall be increased by one unit, and no digit after the decimal point shall be retained;

(5)  under section 117 and 118, only the first digit after the decimal point shall be retained and, where the second digit is greater than 4, the first digit shall be increased by one unit;

(6)  under section 158.5, only the first two digits after the decimal point of the amount P obtained using the formula provided for in that section shall be retained; and

(7)  for the purpose of the calculation set out in subparagraphs 1 and 2 of the first paragraph of section 120.1 and the second paragraph of section 120.2, only the first 5 digits after the decimal point shall be retained and, where the sixth digit is greater than 4, the fifth digit shall be increased by one unit.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of the averages referred to in subparagraph b of the second and third paragraphs of section 119 of the Act and those referred to in the third paragraph of section 124 of the Act, only the first digit after the decimal point shall be retained and, where the second digit is greater than 4, the first digit shall be increased by one unit.

O.C. 967-94, s. 24; O.C. 279-99, s. 12; O.C. 851-2009, s. 10; O.C. 1051-2013, s. 3; O.C. 867-2019, s. 6.

25. Where, for the purposes of Title IV of the Act, the ratio between the pension index for a given year and the pension index for another year is determined and the result obtained is a number containing more than three digits after the decimal point, the third digit shall be increased by one unit where the fourth digit is greater than 4.

O.C. 967-94, s. 25.

26. Where, for the purposes of Title IV of the Act, the average maximum pensionable earnings for 3, 4 or 5 given years is determined and the result obtained is a number containing one or more digits after the decimal point, no such digit shall be retained and the number thus modified shall be increased by one unit where the first digit is greater than 4.

O.C. 967-94, s. 26; O.C. 279-99, s. 13.

DIVISION IX FINAL PROVISIONS

27. (Omitted).

O.C. 967-94, s. 27.

28. Sections 16 to 18 have effect from 1 July 1993.

Section 14 has effect from 1 January 1994. The second paragraph of section 14 applies only to unadjusted pensionable earnings whose presumed date of partition falls after 31 December 1993.

O.C. 967-94, s. 28.

29. (Omitted).

O.C. 967-94, s. 29.

REFERENCES

O.C. 967-94, 1994 G.O. 2, 2343

O.C. 102-97, 1997 G.O. 2, 826

O.C. 279-99, 1999 G.O. 2, 428

O.C. 851-2009, 2009 G.O. 2, 1930

O.C. 1051-2013, 2013 G.O. 2, 3143

S.Q. 2015, c. 20, s. 61

O.C. 867-2019, 2019 G.O. 2, 2285

S.Q. 2022, c. 3, ss. 102 and 103