The salary is the smaller half of a public sector offer. The pension is usually the larger one, and it is the part candidates compare least.
Defined benefit is the norm
Most Canadian public sector plans are defined benefit: the pension is a formula on your salary and years of service, not a balance that depends on markets. The typical formula is around 2% of your best-five-year average salary per year of service, integrated with CPP at 65.
Twenty-five years of service under that formula is a pension around half of your best-five average, indexed in most plans. That is a very different proposition from a defined-contribution plan with an employer match, and it is why total compensation comparisons that look only at salary mislead.
The major plans
| Plan | Covers |
|---|---|
| Public Service Pension Plan | Federal public service |
| OMERS | Ontario municipal employees |
| HOOPP | Ontario hospital employees |
| OPTrust / OPSEU Pension Trust | Ontario public service |
| Municipal Pension Plan (BC) | BC municipal and health |
| Public Service Pension Plan (BC) | BC public service |
| LAPP | Alberta local authorities, including health |
| Civil Service Superannuation (MB) | Manitoba |
Several are portable between one another through transfer agreements, which matters if you expect to move between employers or provinces.
What else to compare
- Vesting — how long until the pension is yours to keep
- Indexation — whether the pension rises with inflation, and whether that is guaranteed or conditional
- Retirement age and bridging — some plans allow an unreduced pension well before 65
- Health and dental after retirement — present in some plans, absent in others
- Sick leave and its accumulation — federal banks it, many others do not
- Vacation on appointment — three weeks is common, four is not unheard of at senior levels
The honest caveat
Plan rules change, and this is a summary rather than advice. Every plan publishes its own member handbook, and that document — not a recruiter, and not this page — is what governs your entitlement.
This guide was last checked against its sources on September 4, 2026. Hiring rules, pay grids and licensing requirements change — where a figure or a process matters to a decision, confirm it with the employer or the body that publishes it.
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