United Food & Commercial Workers Union
Local 1400

Member Benefits

Canadian Commercial Workers Pension Plan (CCWIPP)

3rd Floor,
880 Portage Ave
Winnipeg, MB  R3G 0P1

Fax: 204-982-6080
Web page: www.ccwipp.ca
Call toll free:  1-800-665-1223


CCWIPP - Protecting your Future

The Canadian Commercial Workers Pension Plan (CCWIPP) is a pension plan that many UFCW Local 1400 members belong to. The following is an excerpt from a message to all members who are in this plan from National Director Michael Fraser.

CCWIPP was founded on the vision of UFCW’s first National Director, Clifford Evans. He foresaw the need for an independent pension plan that employers couldn’t misuse as a source of corporate funds that, instead, should be used to enhance member benefits.

The founding of CCWIPP was a direct result of actions like those of the now-disgraced capitalist Conrad Black, who made off with a pension “surplus” when he controlled the Dominion store chain. In fact, because CCWIPP had then recently been established as the registered pension plan at Dominion stores that employed UFCW Canada members, theirs was the only pension plan untouched by Black’s manipulations.

That’s one of the great things about CCWIPP - if assets grow beyond expectations, the “surplus” is rolled back into member benefits. As the plan continues to grow (currently at well over $1.2 billion), your pension will grow with it.

Recent reports have suggested that numerous pension plans are having “solvency” shortfalls. While this may be true for some pension plans, that is simply not the case with CCWIPP.

Pension regulators have recently completed a two-and-a-half year examination of the plan, reviewing virtually all of its investments made since inception. The report concluded that while some minor administrative procedures may require updating, absolutely no instances exist (or ever have existed) to cause concern to any UFCW Canada members with regard to the ongoing viability of CCWIPP.

I am proud to sit as one of the trustees of your pension plan, along with four other union representatives and five employer nominees. Together, we work to ensure the pension plan achieves the highest return on investment and delivers the greatest benefits for its members’ futures. CCWIPP is your pension plan, and one that will provide you with economic security in your retirement – security which you, as a member of UFCW Canada, so justly deserve.

CCWIPP Facts and Figures

  • The CCWIPP is one of the largest independent worker pension plans in Canada.

  • CCWIPP contributions are negotiated in your collected agreement, and are paid entirely by your employer.

  • CCWIPP is an independently, and jointly trusteed plan, with equal representation from contributing employers as well as the union.

  • Starting just more than 25 years ago, CCWIPP today has assets of more than $1.2 billion dollars.

  • CCWIPP was established in 1979 to protect our members from employer controlled pension plans raiding their surplus assets.

  • CCWIPP is a unique defined-benefit/contribution plan, meaning members receive a regular monthly income established by trustees and based on a formula involving the employer contribution level negotiated in their collective agreement combined with years of service.

  • More than 167,000 Canadian workers are active members of CCWIPP, with another 108,000 members in the deferred and vested but currently inactive categories.

  • CCWIPP assets are invested in a balanced variety of diversified growth opportunities, managed by independent investment and actuarial professionals.

  • CCWIPP is governed pursuant to the regulatory bodies of all 10 provinces in which it is active.

  • CCWIPP investments belong to you, and cannot be touched by employers or by the union.

  • All CCWIPP investments growth is used to improve benefits available to UFCW Canada members.

    • CCWIPP 2006 Members' Report