Glossary of terms
A
- Acute care
- This refers to the care of a patient for a brief but severe episode of illness, for conditions that result from disease or trauma, or during recovery following surgery. Acute care is generally provided in a hospital.
- Accident
- Under the emergency care and travel assistance outside your province of residence, this refers to any event due to sudden and unforeseeable external causes that inflicts bodily injuries which are certified by a physician, directly and independently of any other cause. It does not mean any form of disease, or degenerative process, en inguinal, femoral, umbilical or incisional hernia, or any infection other than an infection of a visible, external cut or wound accidentally sustained.
C
- Coma or comatose
- Falling into a coma or becoming comatose means being in a profound stupor or in a state of complete unconsciousness.
- Commuted value
- The lump-sum calculated to pay you the amount you would need today to buy the pension promised by the plan at your retirement, assuming that this amount is invested and earns a reasonable rate of return from now until retirement. This calculation is very complex - it involves a number of assumptions and can only be performed by an actuary.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- An annual measure of the change in the cost of living, based on the price increases of a fixed “basket” of goods and services bought by Canadian consumers. The measurement of the CPI is monitored by Statistics Canada.
- Continuous service
- Uninterrupted employment since your date of hire, including certain qualified periods of leave.
- Contributory member
- When you join the Pension Plan for the Employees of Concordia University, you automatically become a non-contributory member and earn benefits without having to contribute to the plan. However, you may choose to become a contributory member and, in turn, earn more benefits. You may change from contributory to non-contributory membership, and vice versa, each January 1. To do so, simply inform Benefits Services by the end of November in the preceding year.
- Convalescent hospital
- A convalescent hospital is an institution that:
- provides recuperative care;
- is eligible to receive payments under and in accordance with the provisions of the Provincial Hospital Act;
- is operated according to the applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located;
- has a licensed physician and registered nurses in attendance 24 hours a day;
- is regularly engaged in providing room and board and skilled nursing care for sick or injured persons during the convalescent stage of a sickness or injury; and
- maintains a daily record of each patient under the care of a licensed physician.
- Credited service
- Your membership in the Pension Plan for the Employees of Concordia University from the date you joined the plan to the date of your retirement, termination of employment, death, or termination of participation as an active employee in the plan, including:
- service transferred from another plan;
- periods of disability while eligible for or receiving benefits from an employer-sponsored long-term disability plan;
- periods of disability while receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits, provided you are making contributions; and
- periods of approved pregnancy/parental leave, provided the employee continues regular contributions.
D
- Dependent children
- These are your natural, adopted, step or foster children, who are:
- unmarried;
- living in Canada;
- dependent on you for support; and
- one of the following:
- living in Canada;
- under age 21;
- a full-time student, dependent on you for support; or
- mentally or physically handicapped, and incapable of self-sustaining employment, as well as wholly dependent on you for support.
You must provide the insurance company with satisfactory proof of your child’s continued eligibility no later than 31 days after he or she turns 21. Proof may also be periodically required thereafter.
- Doctor
- A legally qualified medical practitioner lawfully entitled to practice medicine in the place where he provides the medical services.
- Duplicate coverage
- Coverage provided to you and to your eligible dependents under a group insurance plan elsewhere, such as.
- the one provided by your spouse’s employer; or
- the plan under which you are covered as a retiree as a result of your prior job with another employer.
F
- Family member(s)
- Under the emergency care and travel assistance outside your province of residence, this refers to any member of your immediate family as well as a step-father, step-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, half-brothers, half-sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces.Immediate family member refers to your spouse, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister.
- Final Average Earnings
- The average pensionable earnings during the 36 consecutive months of earnings that produce the highest average.
- Final Average YMPE
- Your pension under the Concordia Pension Plan is calculated at a different benefit rate for earnings below and above the Final Average YMPE. Your Final Average YMPE is the average of the YMPE for the last 36 calendar months preceding the determination of plan benefits. If you have less than 36 months of membership, the average will be taken over your entire membership.
H
- Healthy natural teeth
- Under the Concordia Health Plan, this refers to natural teeth that are not afflicted with any pathology, including a tooth that has been treated or restored to normal function.
- Hospital
Health Plan (excluding Emergency care and travel assistance outside your province of residence): For coverage in Canada, a hospital is a facility that: - is legally licensed;
- provides a broad range of medical and surgical services for sick and injured persons by, or under the supervision of, a staff of licensed physicians 24 hours a day; and
- provides nursing care by, or under the direction of, a nurse 24 hours a day.
For coverage outside Canada, this term refers to any hospital that is designated as such by law and is intended for the care and treatment of sick and injured individuals, and which has organized facilities for diagnosis and major surgeries as well as 24-hour nursing service. The term does not include a nursing home, home for the aged or chronically ill, rest home, convalescent hospital, or a place for the care and treatment of alcoholism or drug abuse. Emergency care and travel assistance outside your province of residence: Any hospital that is designated as such by law and is intended for the care and treatment of sick and injured individuals, and which has organized facilities for diagnosis and major surgeries as well as 24-hour nursing service. The term does not include a nursing home, home for the aged or chronically ill, rest home, convalescent hospital, or a place for the care and treatment of alcoholism or drug abuse.
I
- Illness
- Under the emergency care and travel assistance outside your province of residence, this refers to any health deterioration or bodily disorder certified by a physician. For the purposes of travel assistance, organ donations and related complications are also considered illnesses.
L
- Loss
- Under the Optional Accident Insurance Plan, a loss resulting from an accident depends on the part of the body affected, as follows:
Arm or leg: the complete severance through or above the elbow or knee joint Eye: the irrecoverable loss of the entire sight Fingers: the complete severance of two entire phalanges of the finger Hand or foot: the complete severance through or above the wrist or ankle joint, but below the elbow or knee joint Hearing: the complete and irrecoverable loss of hearing Speech: the complete and irrecoverable loss of the ability to utter intelligible sounds Thumb: the complete severance of one phalanx of the thumb Toes: the complete loss of one entire phalanx of the big toe and all phalanges of the other toes
P
- Pensionable earnings
Your basic annual salary, excluding all stipends, overtime and supplementary earnings. During periods of leave for which reduced earnings may apply, your full base salary as determined by the University will be used for calculations. Deemed earnings in such periods of reduced pay shall not exceed the amount of compensation that is prescribed for this purpose by the Income Tax Act and Regulations. If you are disabled as certified by a physician and you are receiving disability payments under the Concordia Long-Term Disability Plan, your earnings during your disability will be equal to your earnings when your disability began, increased on each January 1 during your disability by the rate of increase in the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings. If you are not a full-time employee, your earnings will be annualized to determine your Final Average Earnings.
- Pension adjustment
In accordance with the Income Tax Act and Regulations, since 1990, the amount that you can contribute for a given year to your personal RRSP and the Concordia Group RSP combined is reduced by the deemed value of the benefit you earned under the Concordia Pension Plan in the previous year. This reduction is called a Pension Adjustment and is reported on your T-4 slip each year.
The Pension Adjustment is calculated as follows:
9 x the pension benefit you earned for the year
LESS $600
This calculation is subject to a maximum of $14,900.
The Pension Adjustment will need to be increased by:
- any additional voluntary contributions that you made to the plan in the previous year; and
- any applicable Past Service Pension Adjustment.
- Permanent total disability
- Under the Optional Accident Insurance Plan, you are permanently and totally disabled when, as a result of an injury, you cannot engage in any occupation or employment for compensation or profit for which you are reasonably qualified by reason of occupation, training or experience.
S
- Smoker status
A non-smoker is a person who has not used any form of tobacco (including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff or similar products) for the last 12 months immediately preceding the date written beside his or her signature on the declaration of smoker status form. You are considered a smoker if you do not meet these conditions.
- Spouse
- Pension Plan
On the date a determination of marital status is required for the Pension Plan, your spouse is the person who:- is married to you, the plan member; or
- has been living in a conjugal relationship with you (provided you are not married) for a period of not less than 3 years, or for a period of not less than 1 year if:
- at least 1 child is born, or to be born, of your union;
- you have jointly adopted at least 1 child while living together in a conjugal relationship; or
- one of you has adopted at least 1 child who is the child of the other, while living together in a conjugal relationship.
On the date a determination of marital status is required for other Concordia benefit plans, your spouse is the person:
- to whom you are legally married by virtue of a civil or religious ceremony; or
- with whom you have continuously lived in a spousal relationship for at least one year
Y
- Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE)
- This refers to the maximum annual earnings on which employers and employees contribute to the Canada Pension Plan or Québec Pension Plan. The government increases this amount every year, according to the increase in the Average Industrial Wage Index in Canada. For 2015, the YMPE is $53,600.