The Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) is a compulsory public insurance plan. Revenu Quebec funds the QPP by collecting a portion of income from Quebec workers and employers. Citizens can access their QPP fund in the event of retirement, disability or death.
The QPP is part of the Family Patrimony (see our section on the Statement of Family Patrimony (Form IV) for more information on the Family Patrimony).
As such, in the event of divorce, spouses partition and equalize the amounts they each contributed to their individual QPP plans over the course of their marriage.
This partition has a direct impact on the government benefits to which you will be entitled to receive upon retirement. The greatest benefit is to the stay-at-home spouse who would otherwise have no sums credited to his or her name for retirement; the least impact is in a relationship where both spouses work full-time and have already made maximum contributions to the QPP.
Renunciation to the partition of QPP contributions must be expressly stated in an agreement (i.e. opting out must be a clear choice), and the Court will only accept this if the spouses know the impact of the renunciation.
To know precisely what the impact will be of the partition of QPP contributions, you must apply for a simulation of partition.
You can access the form below, fill it out and send it by mail to: *Retraite Québec, C.P. 5200, Québec (Québec), G1K 7S9**
You will eventually receive a report explaining how you and your spouse will be affected by the partition!