Mandatory Electronic Communication Change

In response to legislative changes, and to better serve our members, starting January 28, 2021, we are updating our communication practices by moving to electronic communications. All communications that we are required to send to active and former members under the Pension Benefits Act, such as your Pension Report, will be sent electronically through myOMERSOpens new window, our secure member portal.

Your default method of communication will change unless you opt to receive this type of communication by mail (paper copies) or you do not have a valid email address on file. Before this change, all communication about your pension was sent by mail unless you elected to receive it electronically.

The change will affect active members and former members for whom we have a valid email address and who have not already opted in to receive electronic communications.

If the change affects you, before changing your preference to electronic communication, a notice (“Mandatory Notice”) will be sent by mail to notify you of the change, confirm your email address and inform you that you can opt to continue to receive paper copies at any time.

After you receive your Mandatory Notice in the mail, if you wish to continue to receive paper copies you can change your communication preferences on myOMERS. You can also contact OMERS Member Experience for assistance.

To update your communication preferences on myOMERSOpens new window, simply log in to your account and select My Settings from the left-hand menu. Click on Communication Preferences. Select how you would like to receive information and click Save.

If you receive the Mandatory Notice and you do not update your communication preferences to receive paper copies, beginning on the date specified in the notice, you will start to receive communications electronically through myOMERSOpens new window. When a document is sent to your myOMERS account, you will receive an email notification that a new document is available to be viewed, including instructions on how to access the document on myOMERS.

Recent changes to the Pension Benefits Act allow pension plan administrators to send required documents electronically to their members as the default method of communication. By moving to this method of communication, OMERS can:

• reduce our carbon footprint;

• provide you with timely information about your OMERS pension; and

• keep administration costs down.

No action is required if you wish to begin receiving communication electronically. However, if you receive the Mandatory Notice and you wish to continue to receive paper copies then you will need to update your communication preferences by using myOMERSOpens new window or by contacting OMERS Member Experience.

Yes. If you ever decide you prefer paper copies instead of electronic copies (or vice-versa), simply use myOMERS to change your communication preferences or contact OMERS Member Experience.

The Pension Benefits Act requires that any documents with personal information being sent electronically be sent by way of a secure information system. A secure information system requires the intended recipient of the document to identify themselves prior to accessing it.

Members must therefore use our secure member portal, myOMERSOpens new window, to access documents sent electronically. You must use your unique username and password to access myOMERS.

The mandatory electronic communication change only affects the delivery method of documents that we are required to send to you under the Pension Benefits Act. These documents include:

• Annual Statement of Pension

• Pension Report

• Your OMERS Pension Options

• Statement of Family Law Value

• Pension plan amendment announcement

There are certain documents that will continue to be mailed even if you have not opted to receive paper copies. Examples include:

• If you are retiring, you will receive a paper copy of your Pension Confirmation form

• If you have requested an inter-plan transfer, you will receive paper copies of most of your correspondence

• If you have eligible service added to your record, you will receive a paper copy of the Eligible Service Confirmation Letter

• If you have retired, you will receive a paper copy of the confirmation of your first pension payment

• If you are receiving T4 slips, you will always receive a paper copy

To make changes to your personal and contact information you can do so either by contacting OMERS Member Experience or by logging in to your myOMERS account.

To update your contact information on myOMERSOpens new window, simply log in to your account and select My Info from the left-hand menu. Click on Update Contact Information and follow the steps to update, review and confirm your information.

When you retire, OMERS will mail to you another notice as a reminder that your communication preference is set for you to receive your documents electronically. It will also provide you with the current email address we have on file and ask that you ensure this information is up to date. If you wish to change the communication preferences at that time, you will need to either contact OMERS Member Experience or log in to your myOMERS account and follow the process for updating your communication preferences.

As a result of changes to the Pension Benefits Act, OMERS has moved to electronic communication as the default method of sending you timely information about your pension. This change will affect all active and former members for whom we have a valid email address and who have not already opted in to receive electronic communications. In order to comply with the requirements under Pension Benefits Act and to help you understand how this change impacts you, OMERS is providing you with the Mandatory Notice.

In response to legislative changes, and to better serve our members, starting January 28, 2021, we are updating our communication practices by moving to electronic communications. All communications that we are required to send to active and former members under the Pension Benefits Act, such as a member’s Pension Report, will be sent electronically through myOMERS, our secure member portal.

A member’s default method of communication will change unless they opt to receive this type of communication by mail (paper copies) or they do not have a valid email address on file. Before this change, all communication about a member’s pension was sent by mail unless they elected to receive it electronically.

The change will affect active members and former members for whom we have a valid email address and who have not already opted in to receive electronic communications.

If this change affects a member, before changing their preference to electronic communication, a notice (“Mandatory Notice”) will be sent by mail to notify the member of this change, confirm their email address and inform them that they can opt to continue to receive paper copies at any time.

Recent changes to the Pension Benefits Act allow pension plan administrators to send required documents electronically to their members as the default method of communication. By moving to this method of communication, OMERS can:

• reduce our carbon footprint;

• provide members with timely information about their OMERS pension; and

• keep administration costs down.

No action is required if a member wishes to begin receiving communication electronically. However, if a member receives the Mandatory Notice and wishes to continue to receive paper copies, then they will need to update their communication preferences by using myOMERS or by contacting OMERS Member Experience.

The mandatory electronic communication change only affects the delivery method of documents that we are required to send to members under the Pension Benefits Act. These documents include:

• Annual Statement of Pension

• Pension Report

• Your OMERS Pension Options

• Statement of Family Law Value

• Pension plan amendment announcement

There are certain documents that will continue to be mailed even if a member has not opted to receive paper copies. Examples include:

• If a member is retiring, they will receive a paper copy of their Pension Confirmation form

• If a member has requested an inter-plan transfer, they will receive paper copies of most of their correspondence

• If a member has eligible service added to their record, they will receive a paper copy of the Eligible Service Confirmation Letter

• If a member has retired, they will receive a paper copy of the confirmation of their first pension payment

• If a member is receiving T4 slips, they will always receive a paper copy

To collect email addresses, effective January 1, 2021, OMERS is adding an optional field during the annual reconciliation process.

Employers using the Import File Builder or ASCII specifications

As a result, any employer who wishes to begin submitting member emails as part of the annual reconciliation process and is using the Import File Builder or who has built their own import file using the provided ASCII specifications will need to use a new version of the Import File Builder or update their own file accordingly.

For updated ASCII specifications, please see the Annual reporting of membership information (119) formOpens new window section in the Employer Administration ManualOpens new window.

Any employer who does not wish to be begin submitting member emails as part of the annual reconciliation process, is not required to change their process regarding the upload of member financial information (i.e. ASCII file or Import File Builder).

Employers using the e-access interface

Any employer uploading their member data directly through the e-access interface will see a new field for an email address for members who do not already have an email address on file.

New enrolments post-2020

Additionally, effective January 1, 2021, an email address will be required on new member enrolments.

When completing an enrolment form for a new member, a personal email address should be provided when possible. A member’s relationship with us lasts longer than their employment relationship and providing a personal email address ensures that we have a reliable way to contact them.

Yes; email address is only an optional field when submitting e-Form 119.