The Cost of Service: A Former Officer's Fight Against Pension Penalties
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Paméla Marchand argues that federal workers who suffer occupational injuries are being penalized twice—first by their injuries, and then by a pension system that fails to protect their lifelong commitments.
For those who dedicate their lives to public service, the promise of a secure retirement is often the silent contract that sustains them through the hardest days of the job. But for Paméla Marchand, that contract felt broken.
Marchand spent 15 years serving as a corrections officer with Correctional Service Canada. Her career ended abruptly at age 39 when a psychological injury, which she says resulted from harassment by colleagues, forced her into medical retirement. As first reported by CityNews Toronto, Marchand is now calling for a fundamental overhaul of how the federal government handles pensions for workers injured on the job.
At the heart of the issue is a gap in the system that Marchand describes as a double loss. Because she was forced to retire early, she was unable to reach the 25-year service mark—the threshold that allows front-line workers to retire without penalty. In doing so, she missed out on the career progression and salary increases that would have naturally accrued over a full career, which in turn diminished her final pension.
Marchand argues that the system effectively punishes employees for disabilities caused by their work. "A person who becomes disabled because of their work should not, in addition to losing their ability to work, suffer a permanent loss of the pension rights they would otherwise have continued to accumulate," Marchand stated in French, according to CityNews Toronto.
Further complicating the issue is a perceived lack of consistency across jurisdictions. Marchand noted that two correctional officers in Quebec suffering from the same occupational injury could receive vastly different pension protections depending on whether they were employed by the provincial or federal government.
To address these inequities, Marchand launched a petition seeking several specific reforms:
* Ensuring any recognized occupational disability grants an employee an immediate pension without penalties, including continued contributions. * Requiring employer contributions to continue during severe and prolonged disabilities. * Aligning federal rules more closely with provincial workers' compensation systems.
Marchand is calling on the government to examine the interaction between these systems to create clear protections for those whose careers are cut short by injury.
As of September 26, 2026, the petition had garnered more than 1,140 signatures. CityNews Toronto reports that NDP MP Don Davies will present the petition in the House of Commons on Oct. 7. While Davies noted in an email that sponsoring petitions is a method for facilitating citizen feedback and does not automatically imply endorsement, he stated he wanted these workers to have a platform to express the inequities they face in pension calculations for those with occupational injuries.