A pension committee that represents nearly 10,000 New Brunswick nurses and other health-care workers is seeking advice on how to grapple with a staggering deficit that could lead to future cuts.

The provincial committee appeared in front of the Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday asking how the $1-billion pension fund could turn around its $300-million deficit.

The committee that oversees the plan for the employees of New Brunswick hospitals is trying to figure out what to do because it argues the pension plan isn't sustainable at the current level of contributions.

The three options open to the court include: cutting benefits, increasing contributions or a combination of those alternatives.

Susan Rowland, the pension committee’s lawyer, said the plan, which isn’t regulated by the province’s Pensions Benefits Act, is ambiguous and even contradictory about what the committee can lawfully do to resolve the cash crunch.

The decision could affect nearly 10,000 nurses and other health-care professionals who work at hospitals across the province, including lab technicians, occupational therapists and social workers.

Rowland stressed existing pensions will not be cut, but pensioners could lose their cost-of-living adjustments.

And members may have to pay more than 50 per cent of all contributions to the plan.

Rowland said she expects other provinces and territories will be watching.

She said there's no case law in Canada that deals with whether members of a pension plan obtain vested, or absolute rights, to benefits before actually they retire.