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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