The WorkSafeBC Pension Plan continues to be in a strong and healthy financial position. We have reviewed the plan’s funding and determined it can afford to pay retired members a 2.4 per cent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This increase has been applied to your pension effective January 1, 2026.

In your first year of retirement, your COLA is pro-rated according to the number of months you’ve received your pension. You’ll receive the full COLA amount once you’ve received 12 pension payments in a calendar year.

How do COLAs work?

COLAs are not guaranteed. We must first ensure the plan remains secure. The Pension Committee and an independent actuary monitor the health of the inflation adjustment account (IAA). Funds in the IAA are invested to gain value over time. The Pension Committee works with its actuary to determine an appropriate COLA. Increases must be affordable to protect pensions now and in the future. COLAs are informed by the Canadian consumer price index (CPI). Statistics Canada releases monthly CPI updates. These figures indicate how the prices of goods and services change over time. The latest COLA reflects the difference in the CPI between September 2024 and September 2025.

Visit the Cost-of-living adjustments web page under related content to learn more about how COLAs work.

Navigating uncertainty with confidence

It is understandable to feel uneasy about the future when costs are rising and the economy is unpredictable. As your Pension Committee, our most important job is to ensure the plan’s long-term financial health and ability to pay pensions. The best tool to assess that is the actuarial valuation, which is like a financial checkup. An independent actuary conducts the valuation every three years to assess the financial position of the plan. Provincial legislation requires the actuary to consider the plan from two perspectives: going concern and solvency.

The going-concern valuation assumes the plan will continue at least as long as the lifetime of all current members. The solvency valuation measures the ability to pay out pensions if the plan had shut down on the valuation date.

The valuation results showed the plan has a surplus (its assets exceed its liabilities). Where the plan has a surplus, the plan rules allow WorkSafeBC to use the accessible going-concern to reduce contributions. WorkSafeBC will be using approximately $13,669,000 of that excess each year until the next valuation, due as of December 31, 2027, to keep contributions in the basic account for active members and WorkSafeBC at current rates and cover the expected cost of benefits accruing.

Visit the Valuation report web page, under related content, to learn more about the 2024 actuarial valuation.