While the legislation to enable the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) is still making its way through Parliament, the Pension Centre has already started to send letters via email or postal mail to members who may be eligible for the incentive so they can begin planning ahead. 

The ERI consists of a pension reduction waiver. It removes the 5% early retirement penalty per year of early retirement; there is no financial payout attached to this program. 

While we are still waiting for details on the process to be confirmed and shared, we wanted to make members aware of two key points: 

• Receiving an ERI letter does not necessarily mean you will be eligible for the incentive. Baseline eligibility criteria have been established but the employer is still developing additional criteria that will be added.  
• ERI is a separate process from the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) process. We are still waiting on the employer to confirm specifics on how the two processes might affect each other.

ACFO-ACAF does not have more information on the ERI program than what is shared in the employer links below but we are monitoring developments and will share information that may be of assistance as it becomes available.  

For the most up-to-date details on retirement incentives and pensions, please consult:  

• Proposed Early Retirement Incentive – Canada.ca  
• Pension Portal: Public Service Pension Plan – Canada.ca  
• Contact the Government of Canada Pension Centre for federal employees – Canada.ca 

For more information on the Workforce Adjustment process, please visit this page on our website.

Update as of March 2, 2026 

Legislation to enable the ERI is still in the process of making its way through Parliament, but there have been a few notable changes to the “Proposed Early Retirement Incentive” page on Treasury Boards website that ACFO-ACAF wants to make members aware of.  

Criteria 

A section titled “Criteria” has been added, highlighting that should the ERI legislation come into force, Deputy Heads would be responsible for ensuring that specific criteria are met for eligible employee’s application for the ERI program to be accepted. 

The criteria approved by Treasury Board are as follows:  

• The organization needs to reduce its workforce 
• Services to Canadians will be maintained 
• Current and future operational or business needs will continue to be met 

Application window 

When details about the ERI were initially released, there was information about the application window that have since been removed from the website. 

The original text read as follows: The application window would be within 120 days (approximately 4 months) of the legislation coming into force. Approved employees would have to retire within 300 days (approximately 10 months) of the legislation coming into force. 

At this time, it is unclear whether the removal of this language indicates that new dates or application windows will be introduced, or if the original timelines will remain in effect. 

ACFO-ACAF has made multiple requests for additional information on the ERI, but the employer has not responded to those requests. We will continue to press for this information and advocate for transparency on the ERI. We will provide CT Community members with a further update once the ERI legislation has passed through Parliament.