While reforms to the Canada Pension Plan are well underway, the debate on what to do with the Quebec Pension Plan is just getting started as the provincial government launches consultations on what the changes will look like in that province.
While one of the options the province is considering is to change the QPP in line with the CPP reforms, it has also floated the idea of excluding the first half of the year’s maximum pensionable earnings from the enhancement. That would result in employees who earn an income equal to the earnings threshold during their career receiving only 50 per cent of what the CPP will provide in enhanced benefits, the Association of Canadian Pension Management has noted.
Read: QPP reform must target middle-income earners: ACPM
“The enhanced benefits under the Quebec proposal seem too low to actually address the problem of inadequate retirement income for middle-income earners not participating in a workplace pension plan,” said Bryan Hocking, chief executive officer of the association, in a submission to the Quebec government.
So what do you think about Quebec’s proposals? Do you think the QPP should better target the middle-income cohort, as the ACPM has suggested, or do you think Quebec’s approach strikes the right balance between enhancing benefits and ensuring affordability? Have your say in this week’s poll.
Read: Sounding Board: Expansion of QPP necessary for future of Canada’s retirement system
As for last week’s poll, which asked whether it’s time for the federal government to address decumulation and change regulations to permit deferred annuities, the result was a lopsided one: 92 per cent of respondents said the government should allow for deferred annuities while just eight per cent disagreed.
