A Winnipeg nurse says an error made in 2001, but discovered only recently, may have pushed back her retirement date by almost a decade.

Kara Held has been a nurse since 1982. Originally with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), Held, along with hundreds of others, was absorbed into the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) in 2001.

At the time Held was told her years of service to the VON would count towards her position with the WRHA, meaning her 'magic 80' — the date she could retire with her full pension, based on her age plus her years of service — would be December 31, 2010.

However, in March of this year, Held — who was still working, despite being eligible for a full retirement pension — received a letter from the Healthcare Employee Benefit Plan (HEB) saying "an incorrect date of employment has been recognized and used to determine your magic 80 date since 2001."

The letter went on to state that Held's magic 80 date was "being changed effective immediately to March 31, 2020." That's nine years and three months later than Held was led to believe she had left when she joined the WRHA.

"When I opened that letter I was absolutely exasperated ... shocked," said Held.

According to the letter, the original deal, to transfer the years of service from the VON to the HEB pension plan, "was non-compliant with legislation and must be corrected retroactively."

Held wants to know, "if this was against the legislation and there was some illegal transaction here, then who were the lawyers who signed off on this plan?"

Held said the change means she can't retire for another four years, at least, without taking a reduced pension. If she were to retire today — which she was eligible to do before this change was made — she would lose tens of thousands of dollars from her retirement savings.

Held has been fighting this change for months, and is starting to feel "very overwhelmed by it," but says she's "not giving in."

"We need to go back, and see who is responsible for this," said Held. "There must have been lawyers involved with this when it was drafted. Lawyers carry liability insurance."

Held has made an official complaint to the Office of the Superintendent – Pension Commission, and has consulted a class action lawyer.

HEB Manitoba's CEO, Kerry Poole, told CBC News the pension fund had no option but to follow legislation, and they corrected an error made many years ago.