The name is new but the Trustees and staff team providing pension and health insurance benefits have not changed.
What is also new is the sponsorship of the plan from Christian Schools International to the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society. The Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society (CEBSS) was established to serve as the new sponsor. As with the previous sponsor CSI, the new sponsor, CEBSS, appoints the trustees and approves amendments to the Christian Education Pension Plan.
Through the process of determining how we best serve you, we learned how important it is for you - plan participants and participating schools - to keep the same excellent customer support you’ve received from the CSI Team in previous years. Our CSI customer care Team, serving both Canadian plan members and CSI plan members in the USA, is now called the Christian Education Employee Benefits Team. This team is made up of dedicated professionals passionate about seeing Christian Education thrive. The team’s deep familiarity with the unique needs of Christian school employees makes them an invaluable resource for you - our plan participants and schools. Our Christian Education Employee Benefits Team is fully ready to serve you and answer any questions you might have.
No, the pension benefits accrued and being paid do not change. As well, the health benefits remain the same.
Christian Education Benefits Solutions Society is the Canadian Sponsor of the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension Plans. The Society is represented by a Board made up of people skilled in pension or health insurance plan administration, former Trustees, Christian educators, and former members of Christian educational organizations. Their role is to
- appoint the Trustees;
- approve plan design changes to the Christian Education Pension Plan;
- serve as an appeal board with respect to the decisions of the Trustees affecting beneficiaries of the Plans; and
- serve in an advisory capacity to the Trustees as the Trustees require.
The Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension plans are managed by a Trustee board made up of Canadian Christian educators, current and former plan participants as well as former members of Christian School Boards. Each Trustee member is passionate about ensuring that Christian education flourishes in Canada and has relevant experience with the plans and/or skills in accounting, business management, law, and teaching.
The Trustees are responsible for the management of the Trust Funds and the administration of the Plans. The Trustees managing the Christian Education Benefits Solutions Health and Pension Plans actively ensure that the plans meet the needs of participating schools and individuals and advocate on behalf of plan participants.
Only the name of the plans - Christian Education Pension Plan and Christian Education Health Plan - are now part of Christian Education Benefit Solutions. These plans remain the same plans that were called CSI Employee Benefits – Canada. They are managed by the same Trustees and staff who continue to provide strong oversight over the plans.
The Sponsor of the plan has changed to a sponsor that is not CSI - it is the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society. This allows the plans to be accessible to any Christian education organization in Canada regardless of whether they are a member of CSI or not. As a result of the change in Sponsor for the plans, the plans also have new names. These plans remain the same plans that were called CSI Employee Benefits – Canada. They are managed by the same Trustees and staff who continue to provide strong oversight over the plans.
The name change was not a result of any problems with the plan except that they were not accessible to education staff who were not members of Christian Schools International. The plans have not changed and remain the same plans that were called CSI Employee Benefits – Canada.
There are several advantages that Christian education staff enjoy when they partner together through the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Pension and Health Plans.
1. The plans provide more flexibility in design and coverage options than what a school could achieve on it’s own. The flexibility allows individual employees to buy up or down to other plans based on their circumstances.
2. The plans are cost-effective due to the collective buying power of the plan participants.
We can self-fund the health and dental plans due to the size of our community creating even more savings for education organizations.
3. Shared claim experience reduces each school’s individual risk from their own potentially volatile claims experience and the corresponding rate volatility.
The larger the group, the more stable the rates.
4. Benefits plans are complex and require the investment of time and energy to ensure they are meeting plan members’ needs and being well used by plan members. Through Christian Education Benefit Solutions, you tap into a team of Trustees, staff, and benefits professionals like Mercer and Manulife, to ensure the plans are functioning well and anticipating future needs.
For the Pension Plan, working together helps to minimize risk with a defined Benefit Pension Plan
1. Minimize Investment Risk - The investment risk is shared amongst all of the participants; (2) pension participants don't have to worry about or attempt to manage the investments as they do in an RRSP type plan; and (3) all of the pension investments are overseen by a Board of Trustees and professional money managers.
2. Minimize Retirement Risk - When it comes time to retire, participants don't have to worry about the volatile investment markets impacting whether they can retire or not.
3. Minimize Longevity Risk - Retirees can be confident they won't outlive their retirement account!