Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any information on transferring pensions from the UK to Canada?

I contacted my bank (CIBC) and they have the forms etc but they 'scare' me with their lack of knowledge, I don't want my pensions to be handled by them if they have no idea what they are doing - or if they do deal with the transfer then I'd like to have more of an idea of what I am dealing with.

I have a British Armed Forces Pension and a Government Pension that I would like to transfer over here.

Just to explain a bit about why I am not so trustworthy of the bank - one of the questions was 'is it in Canadian Dollars?', I could be wrong but British Pensions would always in British Pounds wouldn't they!! So when I said no, she asked if it was in Euro's? That scares me because working in a well known Bank I'd kind of hope that they knew what currency the UK uses

Can anyone help me out here and give me more information about transferring my pensions across?

Many thanks

Where are you based? I guess quite a few of us can recommend people, depending on where you live (though it does not necessarily need to be someone near you - but you might like to meet them face to face).

Do you mean transferring the monthly payouts to Canada or transferring the funds that that make up your pension "pot"?

Sorry, I should have thought to mention that! I live in Brantford, Ontario. Hamilton/London are probably the closest bigger cities.

JonboyE, that's another thing I'd need to know, I think I'd prefer to transfer it all in one lump sum, although I don't know if that's an option? All I really know is that my Army Pension is locked until I am 55years old (currently 32), but I understand you can transfer it before this.

You cannot transfer your State Pension in a lump. They will deposit it in your bank account, in Canadian dollars, monthly, quarterly or as you request. It's very simple. You just tell the nice folks at Tyne Park the address and sorting code of your bank. I have never had a problem.
I don't know about army pensions.

Sorry for the confusion, I'm not talking about a State Pension. These are company pensions.

I worked for the Government, my local council, its a pension through them.

To move your pension from the UK, you need to use QROPS (Qualified Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme).

The HMRC has a list of institutions around the that have been vetted to accept the pension transfer. I used Scotiabank.

Took about 6 months all in all, with letters to and from my UK pension provider (Scottish Widows), and the financial advisor at Scotia sending everything to and from the central department at Scotiabank that deals with QROPS.

The funds can be brought to Canada and placed in an RRSP. It does not necessarily need to be locked in until retirement age but if you touch it before you have been non-resident from the UK for at least 5 tax years HMRC will impose some severe penalties.

The funds need to be transferred to a Qualifying Reciprocal Overseas Pension Scheme. You need to find a financial adviser who has experience in these. As you have found out it is unlikely that front of house bank staff will know much about it. I don't know anyone I can recommend who is licensed in Ontario. Maybe other posters do?

To add: RRSPs are defined contribution schemes, not defined benefit ones. If your current pensions are defined benefit then you need to discuss this carefully with you adviser.

Recognized, not Reciprocal

Thanks for your help everyone I know that cibc have a QROPS so I might continue to speak to them and see if I can get to speak to someone who actually knows more about it!! If not I will search for a more specific financial advisor

I have a Canadian RRSP with Standard Life and recently I inquired about the process to transfer my UK private pension to Canada from them and they put me in touch with one of their agents who contacted me and explained the process to me. He was a British guy and seemed quite knowledge in this area. I can provide his information if you need. Please PM me.

Hi Mush77,

FYI the UK are changing the rules as from next April so anybody with a public sector scheme..... i.e Nurses, Police , Teachers, Armed Forces etc etc WILL NO LONGER be allowed to transfer their pensions.

Big decisions looming for expats as UK pensions rules change - Telegraph

This is very important because if you live and intend to retire in Canada, the choice will be taken out of your hands and you will have no option but to leave the pension in the UK.

This could create major issues both on death and on retirement if you live in Canada, but are forced to keep your pension in the UK.

There are quite a few pension transfer companies on the east coast that are very proficient in dealing with UK pension transfers, of which will appear if you do a google search for " UK pension transfers to Canada "

Hope this has helped a little.

Mate Canadian banks have no clue at all. I've heard things from them said in all honesty (according to them) that would blow your mind.

Why don't you look into getting your pension paid into an HSBC account over by and then taking it out in Canadian cash from an HSBC machine over here.

The central department at Scotia that deals with QROPS know exactly what they're talking about. And as to why anyone would want to bring their pension over, the two big ones are:

* Direct control and management of the assets and what they're invested in
* Getting humped each and every month on the conversion rate (yes, even HSBC Premier has a conversion spread)

Meh. If you pick wrong when you lock it in you get the shaft. So it's swings and roundabouts.