The number of workers in Canada who were members of a registered pension plan increased to more than six million people in 2014, according to research from Statistics Canada.
The numbers represent an increase of 72,000 people, or 1.2 per cent, from 2013.
Public sector employees accounted for just over half (51.3 per cent) of pension plan membership, which grew more slowly in the public sector (0.9 per cent) than in the private sector (1.4 per cent). Women made up the majority of workers in public sector plans (63 per cent), while most employees in private sector plans were men (64.2 per cent).
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Seventy per cent of employees were in defined benefit plans, down slightly from 71.2 per cent in 2013. The number was also down drastically from 90 per cent in the 1980s.
Nearly a fifth (17.5 per cent) of employees were in a defined contribution plan, an increase of 5.8 per cent from 2013. Of those members, 87 per cent worked in the private sector.
Membership in hybrid and composite plans tripled over the past decade, growing 4.4 per cent from 2013.
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Employer and employee contributions to all types of registered pension plans fell in 2014, dropping to $63.4 billion from $66.7 billion in 2013. Excluding payments for unfunded liabilities, employers contributed 60.2 per cent of the total, with employees putting in the remainder at 39.8 per cent.
The market value of assets in registered pension plans increased by 9.9 per cent in 2014, totalling $1.7 trillion.