Treasury Board Approves Additional Pay Increase & Provisional Post-Living Differential for CAF Personnel

Above image: Right, BGen. Virginia Tattersall, Director General Compensation and Benefits.

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members can expect additional pay increases in the form of lump-sum payments in the coming months, thanks to renegotiations with the Treasury Board of Canada.

According to a statement released Thursday by BGen. Virginia Tattersall, Director General Compensation and Benefits, the revised economic increase is a compound increase of 12.03 per cent, up from 10.4 per cent.

The economic increase will impact Regular or Reserve Force Non-Commissioned Members (NCMs), General Service Officers (GSOs) and Pilots at the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol)/ Commander (Cdr) and below, as well as Medical and Dental Officers.

Breakdown of the economic increase

According to BGen. Tattersall’s statement, the increase is at the following rates:

• Effective April 1, 2021, an economic increase of 1.50%
• Effective April 1, 2022, an economic increase of 4.79%;
• Effective April 1, 2023, an economic increase of 3.00%; and
• Effective April 1, 2024, an economic increase of 2.26%.

Besides receiving the earlier negotiated economic increases that members received on July 15, other times that members will receive the payment for the various economic increases at the following times:

November 2023: Payment of the revised economic increases.

“You will note that these rates do not align perfectly with the PSAC economic increases. This discrepancy is explained by our practice of distributing funding across multiple applications aligned with compensation and benefits priorities. This year’s priorities included the additional pay increase for NCMs in Standard and Specialist 2 Trade groups,” stated the Director General Compensation and Benefits.

Former Members Receiving Backpay

According to the statement, some 2,000 former CAF members received Severance Pay when they were released. Those CAF members who released after March 31, 2021, will still be eligible for a lump-sum back payment and adjustments to their CF Severance Pay based on the new rates effective at release.

These members can expect their backpay sometime this fall. Those who do not receive it by November 2023 should contact Release Benefits Administration via email here.

Changes to Post-Living Differential & More

The Treasury Board of Canada also recently approved the “Provisional Post-Living Differential (PPLD)” to support CAF members and their families in the transition away from the Post-Living Differential (PLD) or Transitional Post-Living Differential (TPLD) to the Canadian Forces Housing Differential (CFHD).

“Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, we appreciate the vital role you and your families play in our institution. Your feedback on the transition from Post-Living Differential (PLD) to Canadian Forces Housing Differential (CFHD) has been heard, and we have reviewed the implementation process,” reads the statement.

The back-payment and start of the monthly PPLD benefit will begin in October 2023.

Regular or Reserve Force members who were set to see a decrease in their monthly housing benefit when the CFHD went into effect July 1 are applicable for the PPLD. The PPLD is a taxable benefit.

“PPLD payments are monthly and will gradually decrease between July 2023 to July 2026. As your circumstances are unique and will also uniquely change from one year to the next with promotion, pay-incentive level changes, and change in living status with other CAF member(s), you are advised to refer to the respective policies of both CFHD and PPLD to verify your individual calculations by confirming which caveats apply to your circumstances,” noted BGen. Tattersall.

PPLD will be part of CAF policy until June 30, 2026, when it will cease to exist. Individuals, however, might see the end of the PPLD if they are posted to a new location.

CAF members do not need to do anything to apply for PPLD. The pay system will automatically generate it.

For more information about the PPLD, click here.