After a quarter-century of success, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP) may help plant the seed for Canadian pension reform. Benefits Canada talked to SPP general manager Katherine Strutt about how the SPP and PRPP can coexist.
Why is the SPP being looked at as a model for the PRPP?
It’s simple to use, easy to understand and easily accessed. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, but it’s well managed and well run. Employers like it because the money they put in stays there, and it doesn’t add any liability to their bottom line. From an employer’s and an individual member’s standpoint, it doesn’t take a lot of their time.
Do you worry that a PRPP structured similarly to the SPP will affect participation rates in your plan?
I’m hoping they have a finance ministers’ meeting after all of the [provincial] elections are done so that we can continue the discussion and see what’s going to happen, because right now, we’re very much in limbo. The SPP will continue, but what a PRPP will look like and what changes we’d have to make to be onside with that is still very much up in the air.
We’re not afraid of competition. I think that we have a niche to fill in the market. The playing field will change, and we will adapt to it. I think that we have a great product that resonates really well with people.
What do you think has kept other provinces from creating a plan similar to the SPP?
It’s expensive. Now that it’s up and running, it’s great. But I think what keeps some [other provinces] from doing it is the start-up costs.
What will be the secret to continued success for the SPP?
The small business focus will continue to be our growth model for the next couple of years. This is something that gives [small businesses] a pension plan, but without adding to their personal or business liability. And it gives them quite a bit of flexibility and portability. We just have to keep getting that message out there, and I believe there’s a lot of the market that will allow us to grow.
Neil Faba is associate editor of Benefits Canada. neil.faba@rci.rogers.com
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