Superannuation administration manual: Special bulletin 2024-002

1. Purpose

Effective immediately, when referring salary debts or outstanding Pension or Supplementary Death Benefit (SDB) contributions to the Receiver General collection team for recovery, the requestor will no longer use the form PWGSC-TPSGC 2386 termination/retirement information, and must submit the following:

• a completed PWGSC-TPSGC 4242 termination/retirement debt recovery form
• a copy of the letter advising the employee of their debt amount

Given the authorities found under article 155(3) of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), the following debts can be declared on the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242 and recovered from pension payments:

• Transition payment
• Pension contributions deficiencies & arrears^{Footnote 1}
• Supplementary Death benefit contributions deficiencies & arrears
• Overpaid salary/allowances/wages

Debt recovery requests should be sent to:

Government of Canada Pension Centre—Mail Facility
PO Box 8000
Matane QC G4W 4T6

Facsimile:

1-418-566-6298

Email:

tpsgc.dgrgpmatimageriepension-rgpbmatpensionimaging.pwgsc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

The request will be rejected if:

• the request is not accompanied by a copy of the original letter that was sent to the employee detailing their debt amount and recovery options
• the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242 has an amount that differs from the amount on the letter, and/or
• the interdepartmental settlement information is not provided on the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242
• the request was sent to Receiver General less than 30 days after the employee was notified of their debt

The Receiver General will notify the sender by email whether or not the request for recovery is valid and can be initiated.

2. Debt recovery: Roles and responsibilities

3. Additional information

In order to minimize the risk of over collection of debts, any debt confirmed on the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242 and started on a monthly deduction by Receiver General for collection will remain with the Receiver General until full recovery of the debt has been completed or upon death of the member. Coordination will be required between departmental finance and the client departments, Crown corporations, agencies or territorial governments to update the relevant pay system of record with monthly recoveries until advised by the Receiver General that the debt cannot be recovered.

If the pensioner becomes re-employed and a contributor to the Pension Fund, the debt will be referred back to its initial source (Pay Centre/non-Pay Centre serviced department) for collection from payroll.

Should the client departments, Crown corporations, agencies or territorial governments subsequently recover the amount of the debt reported on the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242, or a part thereof, the Receiver General must be notified immediately via email to avoid duplication of the debt recovery.

The collection of debts other than the types mentioned in this communication, must be submitted by the employing department to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) for their approval before a set-off from pension payments can occur. These debts should not be included on the PWGSC-TPSGC 4242.

If the Receiver General confirms that the debt cannot be recovered (either in full or in part) from a pension benefit, the client department, Crown corporation, agency or territorial government will be required to recover the debt through other means.

For any inquiries related to the Receiver General debt collection process, the client departments, Crown corporations, agencies or territorial governments can use the dedicated toll-free number: 1-855-383-0879 or email gu-sherg@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.