Anita's Story
Anita works at a home for the aged in Niagara Region. She shares the value of her OMERS pension plan as a part-time employee. “When I started with the region, I started as a part-time employee.
When I was eligible, I absolutely opted into the OMERS Pension Plan,” she says.
I'm a a recreationist here, for the Niagara Region. It's the greatest job ever. It's fun. I learn things every day. They teach me the best recipes, the best words of wisdom and some pretty good jokes, too.
My grandparents, especially my two grandmothers, I loved being around them, I saw the value of learning from them. And so, I wanted to have that kind of quality experience for the seniors today, and so I thought what better way than to get into it. You never know when that moment is going to wake somebody and spark them. And then you see the sparkle, and that is the ticket.
When you are younger, and just doing your life, you're not thinking about what am I going to do when I retire. Well, when I started with the region, I was started as a part-time employee. And, so when I was eligible, I absolutely opted in to the OMERS pension plan. The staff there are a phone call away and super helpful. I have called there a couple of times, trying to find out where I am now and where I need to be. And, they were like above and beyond.
There's times when if they need me to work some more hours, I absolutely will. The flexibility works for me, which works in my life. You know, you work to live, not the other way around.
The OMERS pension plan, it will give me and my family the support and the wings to do some of the things that I look forward to. I kind of look at the OMERS pension plan as my grandmas are the angels on the shoulder, and OMERS is on this.
Social Value of the Plan
The OMERS defined benefit plan isn’t just important to our members. Research confirms that the OMERS Plan generates social and economic value for communities in Ontario, underscoring the importance of preserving OMERS as a defined benefit pension plan.
