More than one-third of Ontarians worried about having enough money for retirement

Vast majority think employers have responsibility to offer good pension plan: Survey

More than one-third (35 per cent) of Ontarians are very concerned about having enough money for retirement, found a recent survey by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP). The majority (86 per cent) of the 1,100 Ontario workers surveyed believe there is an emerging retirement income crisis in Canada.

“They are very concerned that if employees aren’t able to contribute to a good pension program during their working years, they will become dependent on some form of social assistance in their retirement years. This ultimately becomes the responsibility of the taxpayers,” said Victoria Hubbell, HOOPP’s vice-president of strategy and stakeholder relations.

Ontarians who participate in workplace pension programs are less concerned about having enough money in retirement than those who don’t. Forty-two per cent of survey respondents without a workplace pension plan are very concerned compared to just over one-quarter of those with a workplace pension plan.

Those with a defined benefit plan are significantly less concerned than those with a defined contribution plan. While almost one-half of defined benefit participants have only slight or no concern this drops to one-third of those with a defined contribution plan.

Only 29 per cent of the survey respondents believe that most Canadians have a good workplace pension program.

The vast majority (85 per cent) of survey respondents think employers have a responsibility to offer employees access to a good workplace pension plan and that government has a responsibility to ensure that all workers can access the best type of workplace pension program.

More than eight in 10 (81 per cent) support workers having a pension that guarantees a percentage of their working income in retirement. This belief is held among all ages and all income groups. More than 80 per cent of Ontarians are interested in being part of a defined benefit pension program.

Three-quarters of Ontarians anticipate they will need at least one-half of their working income as annual retirement income. Yet 46 per cent of survey respondents expect to get less than one-half of their working salary during retirement from all retirement income sources.

Latest stories