Frequently Asked Questions
What is the University Pension Plan (UPP)?
The UPP is a pension plan for faculty and staff at the Queen’s University, University of Toronto, the University of Guelph, and Trent University, as well as employees of the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. It was created as a multi-employer, jointly sponsored pension plan involving pooled assets among the participating institutions and a 50-50 partnership between the participating employers and employees when it comes to both funding and governance.
The plan was officially launched in 2021 but originated in discussions about a multi-employer pension plan in Ontario’s higher education sector dating back more than a decade.
Membership in the plan stands to grow in the next few years. A number of Ontario universities and their respective faculty associations are in active discussions about whether to join the UPP. As the plan expands in membership (and therefore in the financial contributions made to it), questions of ethical and sustainable investment will become even more important.
Why are QUFA members calling on the UPP to divest?
A primary feature of the UPP is that it is overseen by both employer- and employee-sponsored representatives. This means that QUFA members, through our appointed representative on the Joint Sponsor Committee and our appointed representative on the Board of Trustees, have an important right to help determine where our pension dollars are invested.
With those rights come important obligations to ensure that the UPP is consistent in how it defines and implements its Responsible Investment Policy and its Investment Exclusion Policy. As the motion itself notes, the UPP has stated its commitment “to promote the health of capital markets and the financial, social, and environmental systems on which capital markets rely”; we are calling on the UPP to be consistent in applying that commitment.
UPP voluntarily excluded all direct and indirect investments in entities domiciled in Russia within three weeks of that country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, stating that “breaches of international law have no place in UPP’s portfolio”; we are calling on the UPP to be consistent in applying this commitment.
Why do we need a divestment motion now that there is a ceasefire?
Regardless of the ceasefire, Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its apartheid regime have been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2024; thus, the motivation for institutional pressure remains unchanged. Moreover, it is not clear that the ceasefire will hold, given the genocidal intent expressed by the state of Israel, and the fact that Israel is already violating this current and third ceasefire by continuing to kill civilians. As such, the motion is as urgent as ever.
Shouldn’t our pension investment decisions be divorced from politics?
Our pension funds are invested on our behalf. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to ensure they are invested ethically, which is actually consistent with existing UPP governance policies. For example, UPP’s Responsible Investment Policy affirms “UPP’s commitments … to incorporating environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) considerations in investment management and stewardship activities”. And UPP’s Investment Exclusion Policy “outlines how UPP seeks to mitigate financial and reputational risks related to environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) issues, such as UPP’s investments contributing to or being directly linked to severe adverse social or environmental impacts.”
UPP’s Investment Exclusion Policy also affirms UPP’s “duty as stewards of members’ capital to consider and manage material ESG risks and opportunities, to be active asset owners, and to take into account stakeholder interests and investment impacts when conducting our investment management activities.”
Shouldn't a faculty association avoid divisive political issues? Isn't that outside of the purposes of a union?
The resolutions to the motion propose divestment from arms manufacturers and military equipment used in ways that do not conform to international human rights codes and laws. Opposing unlawful war and abuse of munitions are issues that cut across many different political beliefs. Many faculty associations in universities have passed similar measures. In August 2025, in Altman v Faculty Association of Simon Fraser University, when asked adjudicate whether resolutions recently passed by the union fell outside the Faculty Association's mandate, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that "the Divestment Resolution is connected to and not inconsistent with, the stated purpose of the Faculty Association to promote the welfare of its faculty members and as the union of those members." A frequently-cited ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court in 1991, Lavigne v Ontario Public Services Employees Union, stated that the plaintiff's membership in the union "does not publicly identify him with the union's activities and does not prevent him from expressing his own views." While these are important rulings for QUFA members to know, the direction of how to invest our own pension funds, while necessarily more powerful as a collective decision, is entirely within our jurisdiction as pension plan members.
Does the motion for UPP divestment single out Israel?
The motion calls for divestment from companies that are involved in any unlawful occupation or human rights violations. We are in a conjuncture of multiple ongoing wars and genocides, and we believe that we should not profit from any of them. At the same time, the evidence in the case of Palestine/Israel is extremely clear and urgent, which is why it is centered in the motion.The motion furnishes important details about the exceedingly dire situation prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) that has prompted the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court and recent rulings by the International Court of Justice, all of which demand enforcement by member states of the United Nations, including Canada. The fact that Israel’s ongoing defiance of international law has resulted in the deliberate obfuscation of the territorial and economic boundaries between the State of Israel proper, that is, within its pre-1967 borders, evidenced by Israel’s expropriation of land for building more than 150 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem where 10% of its Jewish citizenry currently now reside, renders a call for divestment from funds and companies supporting the manufacturing and distribution of weapons that might be used by Israel against OPT and/or in entities involved in Israel’s illegal occupation of the OPT limited indeed.
Is the motion asking for divestment from all companies named on the BDS list?
While the motion takes inspiration from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement - which itself takes inspiration from the South-African anti-apartheid movement - the motion is much more narrowly framed than the BDS priority list. At this point, we are primarily asking to divest from weapons companies, thereby aligning the UPP investment portfolio with the UPP’s own responsible investment policy and exclusion policy.
Would passing the divestment motion compromise the performance of the pension plan?
To be clear, as QUFA members, we can only recommend divestment. Any decision on whether, when, and how to divest can only be made by the UPP Joint Sponsor Committee, who would be required to ensure that such decisions do not compromise the plan’s performance.
Our motion (and similar motions passed by other UPP employee groups) expresses the wishes of our members. It sends a signal to the other plan members, and to the UPP Sponsor Committee, that this is an issue that requires attention and deliberation, including as informed by input from the independent UPP Board of Trustees.
Bottom line: we will still get our pensions! It is worker and university contributions, not your pension itself, that are affected by the fund's performance. The UPP scheme is a defined benefit and not a defined contribution plan. “The pension you receive is based on a formula that considers a few key components including your earnings and years of service.” Because our pension income will not be affected by short-term changes to the value of the fund, members can make decisions that enhance the value of the fund in the long-term.
Why does this require a Special General Meeting?
Section 5(i) of QUFA’s Constitution stipulates that: “There shall be at least two General Meetings of the Association each year: a fall meeting to be held in October, November or December and a spring meeting in March or April, each at the call of the Secretary. The Secretary shall call special General Meetings as directed by Council or Executive, or at a written request of 20 members in good standing of the Association, which includes a statement of the purpose of the meeting. The Secretary shall give written notice of meetings at least 14 days in advance.”
The letter requesting the special meeting was sent on Friday, Oct 10, 2025.
Typically, there are only two meetings per year open to all QUFA members–typically one is held in December and another in April. The agendas for General Meetings are understandably very full. Consequently, QUFA members involved in this campaign decided an additional general meeting would allow enough time for open, democratic discussion about this important motion and invoked 5(1) of QUFA’s Constitution to ensure the meeting takes place.
What happens after QUFA members pass a UPP divestment motion?
Our motion is a first step. While it doesn’t bind the UPP, it sends a signal to the other plan members, to the UPP Sponsor Committee, and the independent UPP Board of Trustees that this is an issue that requires attention and deliberation. Ultimately, it will be up to the relevant UPP organs to decide whether, when, and how to divest.
Why don’t the pledges have names attached to them? Why is everyone anonymous?
Recent history at Queen’s and other universities has shown that there is sometimes a penalty for taking a public anti-war, anti-apartheid or anti-occupation position. Doxxing is also a risk. These penalties are unequally distributed, falling mostly on Indigenous colleagues, colleagues of colour, junior and precarious colleagues. Given the uneven risks to our community members, the UPP Divest campaign has decided that all people who pledge to support the QUFA motion will remain anonymous, in solidarity with our most vulnerable members. However, showing the titles and constituencies conveys the broad base of support we have across the university.