The first step would be to contact us to determine if your pension is eligible to be transferred to Canada. If it is deemed eligible and you decide to proceed, you would sign a letter of engagement that would allow us to start working on your behalf to gather updated pension values, complete transfer paperwork, etc. Basically, we will handle all of the affairs for you.

Please Note: You must be age 55 or older to qualify to transfer your pension account from the UK to Canada.

You can learn more by clicking here.

At Strata Wealth, we do not charge a fee to complete the transfer of funds from the UK to Canada. Our firm is 100% compensated by the investment provider who receives the funds when they arrive in Canada.

If your pension in the UK is a “Defined Benefit” (final salary) pension with a value greater than £30,000 or a “Defined Contribution” (money purchase) pension with a value greater than  £30,000 and has a guarantee on the amount that you’ll be paid when you retire, you will require a FCA approved, qualified financial adviser in the UK completed an analysis of your pension and provide you with something called a “Certificate of Advice”. In most cases this is going to be required.

There is a cost involved to have this completed. We have a referral arrangement with UK financial advisers who specialize in this who can complete it for you. We will provide the referral if you decide to move forward.

Unfortunately, yes. You must be age 55 or older to transfer your pension from the UK to Canada.

The age 55 rule was introduced a few years ago by HMRC.

There are many advantages of transferring your pension from the UK to Canada. We have a separate page on our website which talks about the benefits of having your pension in Canada. You can visit it by clicking here.

Some of the advantages include tax free spousal roll-over at death, no tax liability in the UK, no currency fluctuations, easier management of funds, principal guarantees, simplicity at death and more.

As of January 2023, you can choose to invest your pension money in mutual funds or segregated funds. The qualified for provider in Canada for mutual funds is iA Clarington and for segregated funds is Industrial Alliance.

In a nutshell, mutual funds typically have lower investment management fees compared to segregated funds. Segregated funds provide much better guarantees, estate protection and benefits when compared to mutual funds.

We will help you understand the differences between the two investment options to help you decide what is best for your situation.

You can learn more by reaching out to us by clicking here.