CARP Welcomes Federal Leadership on CPP Enhancement

CARP welcomes the federal government’s commitment to work with the provinces and territories to enhance the CPP this year. For many years, CARP has called for an enhancement of the CPP to help Canadians achieve better retirement income security. CARP members will welcome the federal government’s leadership on enhancing the CPP, a ballot box issue for many during the recent federal election.

“We know that work place pensions are eroding and many Canadians are not saving enough for retirement or have experienced losses in their retirement savings. There are too many seniors living in poverty, particularly women.  CARP members will be pleased that the government has taken steps to ensure future generations can retire with peace of mind.” – Wanda Morris, COO and VP, Advocacy, CARP.

On Feb 16th, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa made a joint announcement saying that they have reached an agreement to achieve the “goal of improving pensions for Canadians”. They announced that they will work with other provinces to develop options for CPP enhancement by the end of May, ahead of their Federal-Provincial-Territorial Finance Ministers meeting in June 2016.

Meanwhile, Ontario committed to postpone the launch of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) from January 2017 until beginning of 2018.

CARP has long called for an increase to the CPP as part of its vision for pension reform.  CARP members expressed their concern that the finance ministers decided not to move CPP reform forward in the FTP meeting in December 2015. Many CARP members expect the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fulfill his promise to enhance the CPP made at CARP’s AGM in 2014 and CARP’s headquarters during the election campaign in September 2015.

 

Read the Government of Canada and Government of Ontario’s news release.

Watch Justin Trudeau’s election promise to enhance the CPP at CARP’s headquarters.