Proposal, if approved by pension plan’s board of trustees, won’t help current employees retire earlier without penalty<\/p>\n
Published Nov 26, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 6\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The province and two health-sector unions have agreed to recommend that their members be allowed to retire at 62 instead of 65 without penalty to their pensions, but exactly how it would work and who would benefit is unclear.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The proposal will now face the scrutiny of the board of trustees of Vestcor, known as CBE \u2013 which manages the pensions of New Brunswick Union (NBU), New Brunswick Nurses\u2019 Union (NBNU) members and many others \u2013 which will make the final decision.<\/p>\n While the idea was pushed by the nurses\u2019 unions, if the change happens it will affect other pension plan members.<\/p>\n Neither union will speak about what\u2019s going on because the change hasn\u2019t been approved, but the news was revealed in a recent email to NBU members that was obtained by Brunswick News.<\/p>\n \u201cThe New Brunswick Union, along with the Government of New Brunswick and the (NBNU), have reached an agreement to recommend changes to the CBE pension plan rules regarding early retirement,\u201d the email reads.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe change in retirement age with an unreduced pension from 65 to 62, once it is implemented by the board of trustees, would only apply to future service. All past service would be unaffected. The next step in the process is to work with the CBE Board of Trustees to get it implemented as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The email ends with a note of thanks to union members.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no explanation in the email about exactly what \u201cfuture service\u201d means, and whether any other changes are being discussed. But previously, the NBU and NBNU had noted that New Brunswick\u2019s teachers, for example, can retire at age 60 without penalty if they\u2019ve reached at least 20 years of service.<\/p>\n In a statement posted on its website on Nov. 21, Vestcor\u2019s board of trustees said it had received a letter from the NBU and NBNU \u201crecommending changes to the plan\u2019s early retirement rules.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cSpecifically, the parties are recommending that the plan\u2019s early retirement rules be changed to allow for members to take an unreduced benefit amount at age 62 from the current age of 65, that the parties have agreed to this benefit improvement on a go-forward basis, and that the cost of the benefit change be funded through a contribution rate change shared equally between the employer and employee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe board of trustees is currently assessing this recommendation while respecting the fundamental philosophy of the CBE plan. This requires a detailed cost analysis, consultation with the plan\u2019s actuary, administrator, and the pension regulator, and a thorough review of our governing documents. The board is reviewing the proposed changes in the context of the long-term sustainability of the plan.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe board anticipates concluding its due diligence of the proposed changes before the end of March 2026. Updates to plan members will be provided as we progress through this assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n While NBNU president Paula Doucet and NBU president Susie Proulx-Daigle aren\u2019t talking publicly, they\u2019ve made comments about the proposal in recent months. The unions also ran a campaign called \u201cFair Finish,\u201d which called for the retirement age to be lowered without penalty from 65 to 60.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how the unions and the province agreed on 62 instead.<\/p>\n In June, Proulx-Daigle told Brunswick News that a study done about the financial impacts of the change showed that the pension plan members and government would have to increase their annual contributions by less than two per cent. Exactly how much that would wind up costing taxpayers isn\u2019t known.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ready to pay our fair share,\u201d Proulx-Daigle said at the time. \u201cWe think that health-care workers have been put through the mill. They\u2019ve been \u2026 burdened with a heavy workload, underfunded, understaffed. And I just think that they deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Doucet told Brunswick News that her members had told her not to present any proposals to them\u00a0\u2018without some indication that our pension plan will move from age 65 to age 60.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n More to come \u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickNewsThe IssuesHealth care Proposal, if approved by pension plan’s board of trustees, won’t help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-308520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"doucet\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1126-lb-pension.jpg\")
Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, is pictured in this file photo. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVEArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.0.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
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