Sixty-six percent of Ontario companies may consider eliminating their existing DC or group registered retirement savings plan if the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) is introduced, according to a survey.
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) survey, conducted by Environics Research, also finds 78% of companies are likely to reduce contributions to their workplace retirement plan.
“Environics’ survey shows that the Ontario government’s proposal threatens the viability of existing plans and could negatively impact the retirement savings of millions of Ontario workers,” says CLHIA president and CEO Frank Swedlove.
The CLHIA has previously said it isn’t pleased with the Ontario government’s stance on DC plans.
An ORPP consultation paper released last year said restricting the definition of “comparable” plan to DB and target benefit multi-employer pension plans would allow the ORPP to be available in a broader range of workplaces.
The CLHIA also notes a McKinsey report—released earlier this week—shows that while most Canadians are on track to save enough for retirement, the problem of inadequate savings is limited largely to mid- to high-income households that don’t have an employer plan or don’t make sufficient contributions to their plans.
Coincidentally, the CLHIA released the survey results the day before comments are due on the ORPP consultation paper.