As noted, there is growing recognition of the need for a new broadly based retirement savings vehicle but that is where the consensus largely ends. There are competing visions of what level of coverage is necessary, whether it must be mandatory, how big it should be, who should manage it and whether it can or must adequately address the needs of those most likely to face poverty in old age – low income Canadians.
The federal and provincial governments must work cooperatively to address the urgent need to provide a retirement savings vehicle that is universally accessible, affordable, adequate and sustainable.
At their May 2009 meeting, the Finance Ministers agreed to establish a research working group which is due to report back in December 2009. The provincial premiers indicated a greater sense of urgency at their August 2009 meeting in Regina, calling for a Pension Summit.
Prompt the federal and provincial/territorial governments to convene a Pension Summit as soon as possible to start the process of pension reform:
to rebalance the interests of employers and employees and
to provide a universal pension plan for those without workplace pensions and
ensure that knowledgeable representatives of retirees, those who have pension plans and the majority who do not, have a material role at the Summit.
Support for Family Caregivers and Home Care Services
The World Bank in its formulation of the pillars of retirement security defines the fourth pillar as including the informal support sector, whether family support or the public housing and healthcare sectors and states the need to incorporate this fourth pillar explicitly into the design of the pension system.
In a similar vein, the 2002 Romanow Report recommended that home care services be treated as the next essential service. Indeed, a major Canadian project known as the National Evaluation of the Cost-Effectiveness of Home Care concluded that investing in home care saves money while improving the care and quality of life for people who would otherwise be hospitalized or institutionalized in long-term care facilities.
With hospital downsizing, the aging population and shorter lengths of stay, the last decade and a half has seen the rapid expansion of the post-acute home care sector. The result is an increased reliance on family and friends to fill home care service gaps. The Romanow Report recommended that the massive Home Care Transfers to the provinces be used to support medically necessary home care services via the formal healthcare system but also recommended that the federal government provide direct support for informal family caregivers.
Develop a comprehensive Family Caregiver Strategy and work with the federal government and other provinces to develop a National Family Caregiver Strategy to support the millions of Canadians who are providing informal care to older loved ones to provide family caregivers with
financial support,
workplace protection; and
integration with the formal health care system, including training and respite care.
In developing the overall Family Caregiver Strategy they could look to best practices that have been implemented internationally as well as in other jurisdictions.
