Withdraw money from Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Govt Pension by an Indian Citizen

Question

I am an Indian and working at Toronto for last ~4 years with long term Work Permit. ( I am NOT a PR holder).

My company is deducting ~300 CAD per month from my salary under 'GOVT PEN'. I came to know that this is the deduction for 'Government Pension (CPP) - Canada Pension Plan'.

I am in my early 40's and I will leave to India permanently sometime in 2019, and I have no plans to come back to Canada.

In this case, Why should I contribute to a pension plan here? I paid almost ~10000 CAD approximately till now, or 5 Lakhs INR. It is BIG money in india.

Is there any way to withdraw/get back/close pension account ? So that I will get the money contributed (after deductions, if any).

PS: I am aware of the social security agreement between india and canada in which I can transfer this money to India's pension scheme (NPS), But personally i don't prefer that.

Did anyone have this kind of experience and withdraw money?

Answer 1

The Canada Pension plan is not a fund to which you contribute, and from which you can withdraw. CPP deductions are effectively a tax which funds CPP payouts. If you are obliged to pay the deductions (which most people are if they work in Canada) then you cannot avoid those payments by claiming that you will leave Canada at some point. Nor can you withdraw or reclaim your contributions.

Your entitlement to CPP pension does not depend on your living in Canada. You can claim it outside Canada if you have worked there long enough. So in that sense your contributions need not be wasted. Some countries have agreements with Canada where your CPP contributions can count as government pension contributions elsewhere. If, as you say, India is one of those countries, that is definitely your best bet.