What the Plan covers
How do I become eligible for benefits?
What benefits does the Plan provide?
Are benefits taxable?
When do benefits begin?
What happens if I receive disability benefits
from other sources?
Do benefits increase to keep up with the cost of living?
What happens to my benefits if I participate in a rehabilitation program?
What happens if I become disabled a second time after returning to work?

When do benefits stop?
What does the Plan NOT cover?

 


How do I become eligible for benefits?

You must be covered under the Plan and be totally disabled.

What benefits does the Plan provide?

If you join the Plan and become totally disabled as a result of an illness or accidental injury, you will receive monthly benefits equal to:

50% of your basic monthly salary when your disability began,
rounded up to the next dollar

Are benefits taxable?

No.

When do benefits begin?

Benefits begin after an elimination period of 104 weeks. During the elimination period, your school board may continue a percentage of your salary (70% the first year and 66.6% the second year, if applicable).

What happens if I receive disability benefits from other sources?

That depends on the source of benefits.

Your benefits from the Plan will NOT be reduced
by …
• Cost-of-living adjustments from any source of benefits
   
• Benefits payable from QPAT's
Accident Insurance Plan
   
• Benefits payable from a personal plan outside QPAT
Your benefits will be reduced
by …		 The following:
   
• any remuneration received from your employer; and
   
• the net initial monthly amount of any disability benefit payable for your disability from your employer's pension plan.

Benefits are further reduced if benefits from the following sources combined with benefits from the Long-term Disability Plan exceed 90% of your net monthly salary upon your disability:

   
• Any remuneration received from your employer
   
• The net initial monthly amount of any disability benefit payable for your disability, from your employer's pension plan
   
• The gross initial monthly amount of any disability benefits from the following sources that are payable or would have been payable had you applied for them:
   
  the Québec or Canada Pension Plan, excluding benefits payable on behalf of dependent children;
   
  a workers' compensation act;
   
  a provincial automobile insurance law;
   
  a provincial crime victims compensation act;
   
  any other provincial labour legislation of your province of residence

Do benefits increase to keep up with the cost of living?

Yes. Once you begin receiving benefits, they increase every January 1 in line with the Consumer Price Index as of October 31 of the previous year. As of January 1, 2003, the increase cannot exceed 3% per year.

These adjustments are made in accordance with the terms and conditions for cost-of-living adjustments used by the Quebec Pension Plan.


What happens to my benefits if I participate in a rehabilitation program?

You will continue receiving your benefits from the Plan in addition to any benefits payable from the rehabilitation program if:

   
• your physician prescribes the rehabilitation program;
   
• you are under the supervision of your physician; and
   
• Industrial Alliance approves the rehabilitation program.

However, your monthly benefits from both the Plan and the rehabilitation program must not exceed your monthly salary upon your disability. Otherwise, the benefits from the Plan will be reduced by the excess.


What happens if I become disabled a second time after returning to work?

If the second disability … Your second disability will be considered …
Does not result from the same or related causes as the first disability A new disability

As a result, a new elimination period and disability period will apply.
Results from the same or related causes as the first disability A continuation of the first disability, provided your second disability occurred in less than:
   
• 22 days of active, full-time work or availability for full-time work; or
   
• eight days of active, full-time work or availability for full-time work, if the first disability period lasted three calendar months or less (not including the period between the end of the work year and the beginning of the next work year and the annual vacation period for teachers in the adult education and vocational education sectors).

Otherwise, a new elimination period and disability period will apply.

When do benefits stop?

The monthly benefits stop on the earliest of the following dates:

   
• the date on which you cease to be disabled;
   
• your 65th birthday;
   
• your retirement date;
   
• your death;
   
• the date on which you fail to submit to an examination by the physician designated by Industrial Alliance within 31 days after the insurer requests such examination in writing;
   
• the date on which you fail to provide any evidence of disability within 31 days after Industrial Alliance requested it in writing; and
   
•

the date on which you refuse to participate in a rehabilitation program or to engage in rehabilitation employment that Industrial Alliance and its consulting physicians deem reasonably appropriate.

 

What does the Plan NOT cover?

The Long-term Disability Plan does not cover any disability:

   
• resulting from an illness or accidental injury that occurs during a strike, lock-out or temporary layoff, if your coverage is not kept in force during the strike, lock-out or temporary layoff (however, if your coverage is kept in force, the 104-week elimination period will begin on the date you would have returned to work);
   
• during which you are not under the regular and continuous care of a physician or a specialist, except in the case of a stationary state recognized by a physician or a specialist, to Industrial Alliance's satisfaction;
   
• resulting from committing or attempting to commit a criminal act, active participation in a riot or insurrection, or intentionally self-inflicted injuries, whether you were conscious or not of your actions;
   
• resulting from esthetic treatments;
   
• resulting from alcoholism or drug addiction, unless you are receiving medical treatment or care in view of rehabilitation, to Industrial Alliance's satisfaction;
   
• resulting directly or indirectly from a war (declared or not), or a civil war;
   
•

during which you are entitled to indemnities or benefits, related to your disability or not, under the Employment Insurance Act;
   
• during which you were performing a gainful occupation, unless it is rehabilitation employment; or
   
• resulting from a flight or attempted flight on board an airplane or other aircraft if you are part of the crew or perform any function relating to the flight, or participate in the flight as a parachutist.

If you are outside Canada and the United States for at least 90 consecutive days, you will no longer be entitled to benefits under the Long-term Disability Plan. Such entitlement will be restored only upon your return, subject to all other provisions of the Plan.