ORPP consultation paper released

The Government of Ontario has released a consultation paper on the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

The province is seeking feedback on essential components of the plan, including the following.

  • Defining a comparable workplace pension plan: since the ORPP is intended to help those without workplace pensions, workers already participating in a comparable pension plan would not be required to enrol in the ORPP.
  • A minimum earnings threshold: to reduce the burden on low-income workers, earnings below a certain threshold would be exempt from contributions, similar to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
  • Supporting the self-employed: since self-employed individuals have a unique status in the labour market as both employee and employer, the province is consulting on how to best assist them in saving for their retirement.

The consultation paper says restricting the definition of “comparable” plan to DB and target benefit multi-employer pension plans would expand the number of employers offering the ORPP to employees and allow the ORPP to be available in a broader range of workplaces.

The province is inviting responses to the consultation paper until Feb. 13, 2015. The paper is available on the government’s website.

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