OMERS and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) are separate pensions, even though parts of the OMERS plan are designed to coordinate with CPP. You contribute to both while working, and in retirement you can receive income from both if you qualify. Your OMERS pension does not replace or reduce your CPP retirement pension. Each plan calculates and pays its own benefit. OMERS uses the CPP earnings limit in parts of its contribution and pension formulas and may provide a temporary bridge benefit before 65, but your CPP amount and start date do not determine your OMERS pension.
You Contribute to OMERS and CPP Separately
While you are working in an OMERS-covered position, contributions to OMERS do not take the place of your required CPP contributions. The two deductions fund different pension systems.
There is, however, a connection in how OMERS contribution rates are structured. OMERS uses the CPP Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) as an earnings threshold. In 2026, the YMPE is $74,600, and OMERS contributions are charged at a lower percentage on contributory earnings up to that amount and a higher percentage above it. The exact percentages depend on whether you are an NRA 65 or NRA 60 member, as explained in the OMERS contribution rates.
This coordination recognizes that CPP provides retirement benefits on pensionable employment earnings while OMERS provides a separate workplace pension.
CPP Also Appears in the OMERS Pension Formula
The relationship continues when your OMERS pension is calculated. OMERS uses the Average Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (AYMPE), which is the five-year average of the YMPE determined when your pension benefit is calculated.
AYMPE helps divide the OMERS formula between earnings below and above the CPP-related threshold. Your actual OMERS retirement benefit still depends on OMERS rules, including your credited service and best-five earnings. The complete calculation is covered in how your OMERS pension is calculated.
OMERS does not look at the CPP pension you actually receive and subtract that amount from its calculation. Two members with identical OMERS pension records could make different CPP claiming decisions without those choices changing the OMERS lifetime pension they earned.
The OMERS Bridge Benefit Connects the Two Most Visibly
An eligible member who starts an OMERS pension before 65 may receive a temporary bridge benefit in addition to the lifetime pension. The bridge is intended to supplement retirement income until age 65, when CPP has traditionally been expected to begin.
The bridge and CPP are not equal payments. OMERS calculates its bridge using its own pension formula, while CPP is based on your CPP contribution history, earnings and the age at which you start the government pension.
Most importantly, the bridge does not follow your personal CPP start date. It ends at 65 even if you started CPP at 60 or plan to delay it until 70. The mechanics and eligibility rules are covered separately in the OMERS bridge benefit.
Do You Have to Start CPP When the OMERS Bridge Ends?
Age 65 is the standard CPP starting age, but it is not a mandatory starting date. Under the federal CPP starting-age rules, you can begin CPP as early as 60 or delay it as late as 70.
For 2026, starting before 65 reduces CPP by 0.6% for each month you start early, up to 36% at age 60. Delaying beyond 65 increases it by 0.7% for each month of delay, up to 42% at age 70.
Those adjustments belong entirely to CPP. OMERS confirms that neither your lifetime pension nor an eligible bridge benefit changes because of the amount of CPP you receive or the date you decide to claim it.
That separation gives an OMERS retiree flexibility. Starting the workplace pension, receiving the bridge and claiming CPP do not have to happen on the same date.
What Happens at Age 65?
If you have been receiving an OMERS bridge benefit, the bridge ends at 65 and your OMERS lifetime pension continues.
CPP does not automatically replace the amount that disappears. Your CPP payment is independently calculated, so it could be higher or lower than the bridge. If you have chosen to delay CPP, you could temporarily have lower combined pension income after the bridge ends because there is no CPP payment filling that gap yet.
We would therefore treat age 65 as an income-planning point rather than assume OMERS and CPP are designed to produce one unchanged monthly total. The OMERS retirement-income guidance specifically allows members to model CPP alongside their OMERS pension while considering different retirement dates.
Does CPP Affect OMERS Inflation Increases?
CPP and OMERS adjust their pensions independently. Receiving a CPP increase does not reduce the inflation adjustment applied to your OMERS pension.
OMERS does use a Consumer Price Index calculation method that is consistent with the method used by CPP, although OMERS rounds the result differently and applies its own pension-indexing rules. For the portion of an OMERS pension earned on or after January 1, 2023, increases are also subject to Shared Risk Indexing.
The result is two pensions that may both receive inflation-related increases without one increase cancelling the other. The OMERS side is explained in more detail under OMERS pension increases and indexing.
Questions About OMERS and CPP
Can you receive OMERS and CPP at the same time?
You can receive both pensions simultaneously once you qualify for each and have chosen to start them. Neither pension requires you to stop the other.
Can you collect CPP while still working for an OMERS employer?
CPP can be started from age 60 if you qualify, even if you continue working. If you work while receiving CPP between ages 60 and 70 and continue making the required CPP contributions, those contributions can create additional CPP Post-Retirement Benefits.
Does an OMERS survivor pension reduce CPP survivor benefits?
OMERS determines eligibility for its survivor pension separately from CPP. OMERS does not use a survivor’s CPP entitlement to determine eligibility for an OMERS survivor pension.
