NEW PENSION SERVICE PROVIDER NORTHERN TRUST

We met with the CUPE Employees Pension Plan (CEPP) Administrator in person on November 20, 2025 and again (virtually) on March 26, 2026. The agenda for both meetings consisted primarily of issues arising from the transition of service providers from RBC to Northern Trust. RBC had been the service provider for more than 20 years with no formal assessment of the service provided. The Joint Board of Trustees undertook to explore other options for a custodian of the pension plan funds and landed on Northern Trust.

As might have been expected, issues arose when transferring from a long time service provider. For us as CEPP pension recipients, two issues arose:

• Difficulties in signing into the Northern Trust portal.
• Payment being delayed to the next business day on a public holiday or Sunday (January 1, 2026 and February 1, 2026).

The initial difficulties in signing onto the Northern Trust portal have, for the most part, been resolved. While there were numerous complaints early in the process, these have tapered off. Northern Trust provided assistance with this process by clarifying their instructions for signing in from different platforms as their instructions were not initially clear. Paper copies of deposit slips will continue to be provided for those who wish to receive them.

An investigation of the January and February pension deposits was undertaken. The names and amounts were approved by the CEPP and the money left the custodian’s accounts on January 1 and February 1 as required. Some financial institutions did not provide some individual pensioners with accurate information. It does not appear to be a CEPP or Northern Trust issue. The CEPP Pension administrator will be monitoring the pension payment to be made on July 1, 2026 date to ensure this problem has been rectified.

CSRA DUES DEDUCTION METHOD CHANGES

With the transition to Northern Trust, the CEPP Administrator discovered the cost of making the annual CSRA dues deduction was being paid by the pension plan funds. The CEPP Pension Administrator advised the out-going and incoming Association Executive this was not a proper expense to be borne by the pension plan. Your Executive rightly offered to cover this expense out of Association funds and you will see this charge on subsequent financial reports. It will have no effect on your annual Association dues of $25. Northern Trust now estimates our cost will be about $1100 annually.

PRIVACY LEGISLATION CHANGES & ASSOCIATION BYLAW AMENDMENT

The CEPP has to comply with new privacy legislation in Quebec and the Federal jurisdiction and is not in a position to share your membership information with the Association in the way it did in the past. In recognition of this, the Executive proposed an amendment to the Association Bylaws which was unanimously approved on March 30, 2026.

What this means in practice is that one person, namely the CSRA Recording Secretary, will be the Association’s private information custodian. All communications with the membership will now originate from the CSRA/APRS Recording Secretary email address and each of you will be ‘blind copied’ for privacy.

CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES - Executive Board

The Table Officers meet with your Chapter Representatives by Zoom on March 30, 2026. President Humberto Da Silva reported on the CEPP Pension Plan, the Joint EAP Committee and a proposed letter regarding solidarity with CUBA. Treasurer Leanne MacMillan provided the 2025 final budget, found at: https://cuperetirees.ca/financials/.

Chapter Representatives Contacts

Region Name Email

Newfoundland and Labrador Lionel Clarke lionelgclarke@outlook.com

Nova Scotia Larry Power powerl@hotmail.ca

PEI and New Brunswick Maureen Michaud maureen-michaud@hotmail.com

Quebec Ronald Cloutier cloutier.ronald@gmail.com

Ontario Shalom Schachter csra@gilbertschachter.com

Manitoba Carmelle Chartier carmellechartier@hotmail.com

Alberta Judy Barry daleandjudybarry@gmail.com

British Columbia Susan Zander susanzander12@gmail.com

GREENSHIELD TRAVEL INSURANCE

Due to the attack on Iran, many flights to the Middle East and Asia will be cancelled or re-routed. Remember that your travel insurance through Greenshield will not cover any repatriation costs caused by war, as this is a ‘force majeure’ event under the benefits contract.

MANDATE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSOCIATION

• Act as the ‘voice’ of retirees with CUPE and the staff unions.
• Respect the roles and responsibilities of the CUPE staff unions.
• Maintain active retiree representatives on the Joint Board of Trustees.
• Implement active communication tools in both official languages.
• Develop a dependable financial base.
• Facilitate cooperative engagement among members.
• Encourage all eligible retirees and surviving spouses to join.

PRESIDENTIAL MANDATE

Humberto Da Silva (President) aims to guide the CSRA toward recognizing the accomplishments of members and exercising greater political involvement. The association provided a $500 donation to ‘Containers to Cuba’.

Solidarity,

Humberto (He/Him/Comrade) President CSRA/APRS csra.aprs.president@proton.me

WEBSITE: https://cuperetirees.ca/