Over the course of your career, there may be times when you need to take a leave from work — maybe it’s to welcome a new baby, care for a family member or deal with a personal emergency. While this time away can affect your pension, you do have the option to purchase that time to add to your credited service.
When you return from a leave, your employer will provide you with your options and calculate the cost for you.
The cost of purchasing a leave is based on the contributions you and your employer would have been paying during the leave period. Your OMERS pension is funded by equal contributions from you and your employer.
For some types of leaves, you are only responsible for paying your portion of the relevant contributions, which is then matched by your employer. This includes pregnancy/parental, emergency, family medical and organ donor leaves.
If you choose not to purchase these types of leaves, the period will still count as eligible service and be used to calculate the early retirement adjustment.
For other types of leaves, you are responsible for paying both your and your employer’s portions of the contributions. This includes an authorized leave of absence, a strike or lockout as defined under the Labour Relations Act, 1995 or a self-funded leave. If you choose not to purchase these types of leaves, the period will not count as eligible service.
The deadline for purchasing a leave is December 31 of the year following the year in which your leave ended or 30 days after the day your employment ends with your OMERS employer (if earlier). For example, if you returned from a leave of absence in 2025, the deadline to purchase this period would be December 31, 2026.
After this deadline, you will still be able to purchase the leave, but it will be costed as a buy-back and is generally more costly. Use the Buy-back Estimator in myOMERS to get an estimate.
Changes to the way that OMERS administers leave purchases are coming in 2026.
The decision to purchase a leave is up to you. Once you know the cost of purchasing the leave, use the Retirement Planner in myOMERS to see how it would increase your pension. To see if it makes sense for you to purchase, compare the cost to purchase the leave and your increased pension and factor in whether purchasing the leave would increase your future pension or allow you to retire earlier with an unreduced pension. Consider talking to a financial planner.
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