Eligible for the DGPP

All Desjardins Group salaried employees aged from 25 up to 65 years old are required to sign up for the Desjardins Group Pension Plan (DGPP). Membe​rship is optional for those under the age of 25 or 65 and over.

However, in addition to the age criterion, you must also satisfy the following conditions, depending on your employee status.

To determine eligibility, the hours worked or remuneration earned in the service of one or more Desjardins employers must be cumulative. The employer must ensure that eligibility criteria are met.

You will be notified via Workday if you meet the participation criteria.

If you are a regular full-time employee:

• • Membership is immediate. 

If you are a regular part-time employee:

• Membership is immediate if you meet one of the following criteria:  

  • You have a regular work schedule of 14 or more hours per week.
  

  • During the previous calendar year, you​ were employed by one or more Desjardins Group employers at least 700 or your total remuneration equalled or exceeded 35% of the maximum pensionable earnings (MPE)​ for the Québec Pension Plan (QPP) or the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for the previous year.
  

• If you do not meet any of the preceding criteria, your membership will begin:  

  • As soon as you have a regular work schedule of 14 or more hours per week.

  • On January 1 of the following year, if you were employed by one or more Desjardins Group employers at least 700 hours or if your total remuneration equalled or exceeded 35% of the MPE.  
  

In all other cases: 

Membership is immediate if you were employed by one or more Desjardins Group employers at least 700 hours or your total remuneration equalled or exceeded 35% of the MPE during the previous calendar year.

If you are not eligible immediately, your employer will check again to see if you are eligible on January 1 of the following year (e.g. on January 1, 2024, your employer will check to see if you are eligible by considering the number of hours worked or the remuneration earned in 2023). 

If your active participation to the DGPP ends and you become a participant again in the following 6 months, the years of service and the salaries from your previous participation will be considered in the calculation of your pension amount. In order to do so, the associated rights to this past participation must not have been transferred outside the pension plan in the meantime.

If, however, you return as an active participant to the DGPP more than 6 months after the end of your previous participation, you will be considered as a new participant to the DGPP and as such will start a new participation.

It is up to the employer to determine the number of hours in a regular work schedule. However, the employer must take into account the definition in the DGPP Regulation, which reads as follows: “The work schedule of an employee which is repeated from week to week, for at least a four-week duration, or which has already been repeated for such time. Any work schedule combination within that period is also acceptable, provided it is steady and there is regularity in its repetition. Any hours worked in addition to this repetitive schedule are not part of the regular work schedule.”

You may suspend your membership in the Plan only under specific circumstances, such as a maternity or parental leave or an unpaid leave. See the information on eligible leaves and absences to learn more.

If you choose not to contribute to the Plan during this period, therefore, it will not be recognized in the calculation of the pension.

If you wish to have this period recognized in the calculation of your pension at a later date, you can buy back past service.

Once you sign up for the Plan, your membership cannot be interrupted. Even if you no longer meet the eligibility criteria, or are under 25, you may not withdraw from the Plan once you have become a member.

You may withdraw only if your employment terminates.

However, when you reach normal retirement age, i.e. age 65, you may stop contributing to the Plan if you wish and still remain employed. You will then have to request payment of your pension. You will need to specify that you're 65 or over and that you remain employed.​