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© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the May 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
E-Poll
Is the Canada Pension Plan in trouble?
In a March interview with BENEFITS CANADA, Department of Finance spokeperson Jean-Michel Catta said
Canada's retirement system is "sustainable and it is on solid ground"
(www.benefitscanada.com/news/news.html#story331). In December 1999, Finance Minister Paul Martin commented
on the Canada Pension Plan's (CPP) long-term viability by saying that "current evidence indicates that the
changes we put in place two years ago will be sufficient to sustain the CPP. Canadians can rest assured
that the CPP will continue to provide the retirement pensions and other CPP benefits that they depend on."
The Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM), meanwhile, noted in its January paper entitled
Dependence or Self-reliance: Which way for Canada's Retirement Income System? that the federal
government needs to "acknowledge publicly that the CPP/QPP reform steps already taken only begin to address
the major economic and moral challenges Canadians will face as its workers-to-pensioners ratio begins to
fall significantly, starting only a decade hence."
Our e-poll this month suggests those in the pension and benefits industry don't agree with the government's
assertion that all is well with the CPP. In response to the question 'do you agree that Canadians need not
worry about the financial health of the public retirement system?' 88% say they do not. Only 12% agree that
Canadians need not worry about the viability of the public retirement system.
But do plan members feel the same way?
"It hasn't hit our radar screen in terms of employees coming to us and wanting to talk about it," says Pat
Suzuki, director of pensions at Suncor Energy Inc. in Edmonton. Suncor addresses the CPP as part of its
investment education program for members of its defined contribution plan, but Suzuki says any concerns
plan members may have are not coming to her.
"I think maybe it should be an issue for people," she says. "Our population is aging and we do have quite a
few people coming into that 45 age range where people start thinking about these things and actually start
to consider what's happening. I think they're becoming more aware of it but it hasn't really filtered into
their consciousness yet."
Educating Canadians about how demographic forces will strain the retirement income system is a key
recommendation in the ACPM report. Canadian employers and unions "must use their informational and
knowledge advantage to further the financial wellness interests of their workforce or members," it notes.
"For example, they should insist on simple, efficient, uniform Canadian regulatory regimes for pensions and
investments."
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