Up to the late-19th century, everyone provided for his or her own retirement either by saving or by using “The Waltons method” of having large families, who would take over the farm and run it when you got too old to do it yourself. It was only in the 20th century that old-age provision was deemed to be a government/employer issue and the people’s personal savings were to top this up for a luxury retirement of cruises and wintering in Florida.
The core of any employee benefits plan is the pension. But with DB plans, rapid changes in longevity have pushed the majority of funds into an underfunded position, and employers are increasingly closing plans to new entrants in order to get the deficit under control and reduce the pressure on the corporate balance sheet.
Like most western countries, the level of pension savings in Canada is a major issue for the government, and increased life longevity is driving concerns about how Canada can provide for its senior citizens in the future.