Parliament Seals Bulgaria-Canada Pension Rights Deal

The Parliament's ratification of the agreement on retirement rights between Bulgaria and Canada will benefit some 70 000 Bulgaria expats. File photo

Retirement rights of Bulgarian immigrants in Canada received final guarantees Wednesday with the Parliament's ratification of the social security agreement between the two countries.

The agreement was signed in October 2012 in Canada by Bulgarian Labor and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov and Canadian Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley.

It applies to regular pensions for years of service and to pensions for disabilities.

Under the agreement, the authorities of Bulgaria and Canada will sum up the periods that the respective individuals work in each of these countries in order to determine the right to a retirement pension.

The pension allocated by Canada will be based on the period in which the respective person made social security payments in Canada, while the pension allocated by Bulgaria will be based on the social security payment period in Bulgaria proven with the respective documents.

Thus, the Bulgarian immigrants in Canada will be getting two pensions – Canadian and Bulgarian – commensurate with the periods in which they made social security payments in the respective country.

In the event of a dispute as to where a certain individual had social security rights in any of the countries, final decisions are to be made by Bulgaria's National Social Security Institute and the International Operations Service of the Canadian Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development.

The social security periods before the ratification will be eligible as well.

"70 000 Bulgarian expats will benefit from this agreement, which has been a long-awaited strategic document," the Member of the Parliament from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, Svetlana Angelova, is quoted saying.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!