Great-West Life has launched a new website, at vrsp-greatwestlife.com, to help Quebec businesses set up their company’s voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSPs), once legislation has passed. VRSPs are expected to be available Jan. 1, 2013.
Canada's Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act was passed by the House of Commons yesterday.
It seems the idea of expanding the Canada Pension Plan doesn’t die easily. The NDP hasn’t let it go, nor has the Ontario government who, with their March 27 budget, reiterated their preference for a “modest, phased-in expansion of CPP” over pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs).
The pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) announced by the federal government last year is the first step in the reforms needed to extend pension coverage to the more than 60% of the Canadian workforce not currently enrolled in a workplace plan. However, as the Ontario government hinted in its recent budget, there are a number of challenges with the PRPP design.
The reality that Canadians are not saving enough for retirement has sparked the idea of reforming the pension system. Speakers at the 2012 DC Plan Summit discussed the recently proposed pooled registered pension plan (PRPP), changing the lifetime contribution limit and the need for increased financial literacy as strategies to encourage people to be better prepared for their post-work years.
One of the touted benefits of pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) is that they involve an off-loading of fiduciary duty. The employer just has to select and monitor the administrator and have the payroll system remit the contributions. The administrator, acting as a trustee for the members, is responsible for everything else.
During this period of reform, there’s been a lot of discussion about how to improve pension coverage across Canada, and how to keep the current system sustainable.
The Ontario government’s reluctance to move ahead with implementing PRPPs in the province has raised the ire of several prominent industry leaders.
Is Canada finally facing the reality that meaningful pension reform can no longer be delayed?
“PRPPs have helped to change the pension conversation because they’ve created conversation,” says Sue Reibel, senior vice-president and general manager, group retirement solutions, with Manulife Financial.