Proposed Expansion of the Operational Service Early Retirement Program

The following proposals are subject to approval by the Parliament of Budget 2025 and the related budget implementation legislation. Please bookmark this page for updates.

Government Commitment

The Government of Canada has reaffirmed its intention to expand the operational service early retirement program to include frontline employees in additional occupational groups. Implementing this expansion will require legislative and regulatory adjustments.

Program Overview

The operational service program permits eligible plan members to retire earlier with an immediate unreduced pension after completing 25 years of actual operational service. Alternatively, members may retire at age 50 with at least 10 years of actual and 10 years of "deemed" operational service.

All participants in the public service pension plan earn pensionable service at approximately 2% per year. Retiring after 25 years typically provides around a 50% pension benefit.

Groups Affected by the Proposed Expansion

This change aims to recognize the challenging work of frontline employees by extending early retirement eligibility to additional groups, including:

Border services officers
Parliamentary protection officers
Search and rescue personnel
Federal and territorial firefighters
Paramedics
Correctional employees

The operational service early retirement program "allows certain eligible plan members to retire earlier with an immediate unreduced pension after completing 25 years of actual operational service."

This expansion acknowledges the daily demanding work these frontline federal workers do to keep Canadians safe and secure.

Author's summary: Canada plans to extend early retirement benefits to more frontline employees, recognizing their vital role in public safety and requiring legislative approval for implementation.

Canada.ca — 2025-11-05