Those who are unjustly denied these survivors’ pensions are among our most vulnerable, senior citizens, the majority of whom are women. Most are unable to obtain employment after the death of their spouse because they are elderly. Many have health and/or mobility issues.

     The sole reason why they are denied their rightful  survivors' pensions is because their spouse married them after they retired. The antiquated rule of denying pensions to post-retirement spouses still applies even though the retired teachers paid contributions from their salary during their teaching careers to provide survivors' pensions.      

Examples:

     A retired teacher’s first wife predeceased him and of course would never receive his survivor’s pension. When he re-married after retirement, his second wife was denied this pension when he passed away. Added to the financial hardship of suddenly living on her own small pension was the knowledge that her husband died worrying that the survivors' pension that he thought would keep her financially secure after his passing was denied to her by the OTPP.

      A widow struggles to live solely on her OAS and CPP benefits after her husband passed away. Additional family struggles, including supporting a disabled son has forced her to declare bankruptcy.

    There are many more stories of widowed seniors who have been left in financial difficulty.

     Some of these seniors have had to sell their family homes and deplete their life savings just to live.

     The majority of Canada’s provinces do not deny teachers’ post-retirement spouses their survivors’ pensions.

      The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), changed their plan in the interest of fair and equitable treatment of its members in 1991.

      It will not cost other teachers or the tax payers anything for these survivors to receive these pensions. The reason why is because the money that should be paid to them was already put into the Fund by their spouses when they took deductions from their salaries during their working years. This is in fact their rightful money.

     Please sign this petition and tell the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Ontario Teachers' Federation that they must grant rightful survivors’ pensions to post-retirement spouses of Ontario teachers.

     Why can’t they give these surviving spouses what is rightfully theirs?