Consultations on allowing for voluntary individual contributions to the CPP won’t lead to any real help for workers worried about having a secure retirement income, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says.
“Another ineffective voluntary retirement saving scheme is not a solution for the over 11 million Canadians without a workplace pension,” says Paul Moist, national president of CUPE.
“The Conservatives’ scheme is nothing more than an election sideshow, meant to distract Canadians from what is really needed—a doubling of CPP benefits through modest, but mandatory increases in the contributions paid by both workers and employers.”
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) also believes a voluntary plan won’t work.
“The CPP is so successful precisely because contributions are mandatory, not voluntary,” says CLC president Hassan Yussuff. “Voluntary contributions would be more complicated and costly to administer, and, would leave workers behind when employers choose not to match increases.”
Ontario Associate Minister of Finance Mitzie Hunter says the federal government has no real interest in enhancing the CPP and “is only concerned with their short-term election prospects instead of providing a secure retirement for millions of Canadians.”
She adds that the province will continue to move ahead with the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, which is scheduled to launch on Jan. 1, 2017.