Breadcrumb Trail Links
New BrunswickNewsThe IssuesHealth care
Proposal, if approved by pension plan’s board of trustees, won’t help current employees retire earlier without penalty
Published Nov 26, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, is pictured in this file photo. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVEArticle content
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.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
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.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to keep reading.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.
THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
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
Article content
The proposal will now face the scrutiny of the board of trustees of the CBE pension plan – which manages the pensions of New Brunswick Union (NBU), New Brunswick Nurses’ Union (NBNU) members and others – which will make the final decision.
While the idea was pushed by the nurses’ unions, if the change happens it will affect other pension plan members.
Neither union will speak about what’s going on because the change hasn’t been approved, but the news was revealed in a recent email to NBU members that was obtained by Brunswick News.
“The 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,” the email reads.
Morning Email Telegraph-Journal
Thanks for signing up!
Article content
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“The 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.”
The email ends with a note of thanks to union members.
There’s no explanation in the email about exactly what “future service” means, and whether any other changes are being discussed. But previously, the NBU and NBNU had noted that New Brunswick’s teachers, for example, can retire at age 60 without penalty if they’ve reached at least 20 years of service.
In a statement posted on its website on Nov. 21, CBE’s board of trustees said it had received a letter from the NBU and NBNU “recommending changes to the plan’s early retirement rules.”
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“Specifically, the parties are recommending that the plan’s 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.
“The 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’s 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.
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“The 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.”
While NBNU president Paula Doucet and NBU president Susie Proulx-Daigle aren’t talking publicly, they’ve made comments about the proposal in recent months. The unions also ran a campaign called “Fair Finish,” which called for the retirement age to be lowered without penalty from 65 to 60.
It’s unclear how the unions and the province agreed on 62 instead.
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’t known.
“We’re ready to pay our fair share,” Proulx-Daigle said at the time. “We think that health-care workers have been put through the mill. They’ve been … burdened with a heavy workload, underfunded, understaffed. And I just think that they deserve this.”
At the time, Doucet told Brunswick News that her members had told her not to present any proposals to them ‘without some indication that our pension plan will move from age 65 to age 60.’”
Article content
Share this article in your social network