Commission administrative des régimes de retraite et d'assurances. 
 

CARRA > Commitments > Service Statement


Service Statement (PDF)
(The printable version may differ
from the one below.)

Service Statement

Consult the Table of Processing Times, which details our administrative time allowance.

 

 

Note: The Service Statement is regularly updated in accordance with the coming into force of various amendments to the legislative or regulatory provisions of the laws governing pension plans. In addition, all agreements concluded between CARRA and its partners are updated and published in the annual management report.

Our mission


CARRA’s mission is to offer its clients services enabling them to receive benefits under the pension plans administered by CARRA.

CARRA also provides expert advice by producing pension plan actuarial valuations, and by conducting various studies for bargaining parties and pension committees as well as for the investment of the funds entrusted to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

To carry out its mission, CARRA works in close collaboration with employers and members of pension committees, and maintains ties with numerous associations, various government bodies, unions and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Our clients


CARRA’s clients are essentially former or current members of the public service and the education and health and social services sectors, and pensioners and their spouses and heirs. Members of the National Assembly, judges, Sûreté du Québec officers, peace officers in correctional services and elected officers of certain Québec municipalities are also CARRA’s clients.

Our services


CARRA works with its clients for a significant part of their life, from the beginning of their career until their death. Our main services for our clients are:

For members

  • recording their contributions to a pension plan;
  • buy-backs;
  • benefits payable in the case of terminal illness or disability, depending on the pension plan;
  • production, upon request, of statements of contributions, estimates of future pensions, cost of a buy-back, etc.;
  • refund of contributions or transfer of the value of the funds accrued under a pension plan to a locked-in retirement account (LIRA) or a life income fund (LIF);
  • transfer of years of service from one pension plan to another.

For future pensioners

  • information sessions and training programs for public service employees and employees in the education and health and social services sectors;
  • processing of applications for retirement pensions and, as the case may be, applications for disability benefits.

For pensioners

  • payment of benefits into the deposit account of their choice and, in some cases, in the currency of their country of residence;
  • deductions at source.

For surviving spouses, children and heirs

  • processing of survivors benefits and payment of those benefits to the spouse or the heirs and, if applicable, to the dependant children;
  • payment of a basic life insurance benefit to a member’s heirs;
  • recording of the renunciation of spousal benefits or the revocation of that renunciation.

For all

  • information services (by phone, in writing, on the Internet or in person), as well as information sessions and public relations activities;
  • distribution of a variety of printed and online publications, such as information bulletins, guides, press releases and forms.

Our commitments


Courteous and confidential services

  • We treat you with courtesy and we listen to you.
  • We strictly apply the rules on the protection of personal information.

Quality information on your rights

  • We provide you with a statement of contributions on request.
  • We provide you with accurate and complete information.

Rigorous processing of your applications

Unless processing of your file is complex, which occurs in 10% of cases, we deal with your requests within the periods indicated below, provided you and your employer submit a complete application and the information corresponds to your file.

  • We will confirm the amount of your pension as of the month of your retirement, provided we receive your complete application at least 90 days before you retire. This includes a 30-day period to inform us of your choice of personalized benefits using the reply form enclosed with the “Your options” document that we will send you.
    • If your pension amount is not confirmed at the time of the first payment, we will confirm it within 60 days of receipt of your choice of benefits.
  • We ensure the continuity of your income
    • if you participate in a plan or are exempted from making contributions; by making a payment on the 15th of the month following the month you retire, provided we receive your complete application at least 20 days before the date of your retirement;
    • if you no longer participate in a plan, by making a payment within 2 months following the month you chose to retire, provided we receive your complete application at least 90 days before the month of your retirement.
  • We pay your pension by direct deposit no later than the 15th of each month. In the case of benefits paid by cheque, the cheque will be issued 48 hours before that date.
  • We reply to letters concerning our client services within 30 days following receipt.

Accessible services

  • You can go to our offices; the address is available in the How to access our services section. An information clerk will meet with you as quickly as possible. However, if you have an appointment, we will meet with you within 10 minutes of the appointed time.
  • We ensure that our services are accessible by various means: in person, at our offices in Québec and by phone. There are also other ways to contact us, in particular, by fax, mail, secured email (through our website) or when you attend exhibitions or fairs.

Help us to serve you better


To help us fulfil our commitments, we invite you to:

  • provide us, within the prescribed time, with complete and accurate information concerning your application. For the time periods involved, please refer to the guides and forms related to each type of request, available on our website;
  • inform us without delay of any change concerning your file or your application;
  • share with us any suggestions and comments you have about the quality of our services.

 

Bureau des plaintes


The Bureau des plaintes deals confidentially with complaints regarding the quality of the services provided. However, it does not replace legal recourses, such as reexamination and arbitration, which are available to you following a decision rendered by CARRA.

The Bureau des plaintes deals with a complaint within 30 days following its receipt. If we cannot meet that time limit, the person in charge of complaints will contact you.

How to access the Bureau des plaintes

  • By phone
    418 644-3092 (Québec region)
    1 855 642-3092 (toll free)
    1 866 239-2985,  ext.: 2009 (toll free)
     
  • By secure email
    Complaints Officer

 

  • By mail
    Bureau des plaintes
    Commission administrative des régimes
    de retraite et d’assurances
    475, rue Saint-Amable
    Québec (Québec)  G1R 5X3

     
  • By fax
    418 644-5050

How to access our services


On Internet

 www.carra.gouv.qc.ca

By phone

418 643-4881 (Québec region)
1 800 463-5533 (toll free)

Persons with hearing impairments

418 644-8947 (Québec region)
1 855 317-4076 (toll free)

By fax

418 644-3839

 

In person: If you want to set a specific time to meet with a member of our personnel, we recommend you call to make an appointment. You can also write to us or go to our offices on the 5th floor of the following address:

Commission administrative des régimes
de retraite et d’assurances
475, rue Saint-Amable
Québec (Québec)  G1R 5X3

Our business hours are:

Monday to Wednesday
and Friday

  8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Thursday

  10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

 

You can also contact your employer, who will assist you.

 

Subscribe to our electronic mailing list

Subscribe to CARRA’s electronic mailing list to receive news regarding the various pension plans.

 

Last update of the Service Statement : February 27, 2013