Fewer Canadians living paycheque to paycheque • Income affects health: Survey • Proposed PRPP regulations published
Fewer Canadians living paycheque to paycheque
TORONTO — The number of Canadians who live paycheque to paycheque is on the decline, according to a survey by the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA).
Although 47 per cent are reporting they would be in financial difficulty if their pay was delayed by even one week, it is an improvement over the 57 per cent in 2011 who were just making ends meet.
The provinces or regions with the highest percentage of employees living paycheque to paycheque are: the Maritimes (54 per cent), Manitoba (53 per cent) and Ontario (52 per cent). Quebec has the lowest percentage (33 per cent), found the survey of 3,500 employees.
Income affects health: Survey
OTTAWA – The health of Canadians is increasingly affected by how much money they earn, with lower income groups reporting poorer health and greater use of health services than those with higher incomes, according to a survey from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).
In describing their health, 39 per cent of those earning less than $30,000 a year said it was excellent or very good, compared to 68 per cent of those earning $60,000 or more — a gap of 29 percentage points. In 2009, the gap between the two income groups was 17 points
Of those with household incomes of less than $30,000, 46 per cent reported that as a result of the economic downturn, they have spent less time, energy and money on sustaining their health, compared to 19 per cent earning $60,000 or more.
In 2009, there was no difference between lower and higher-income Canadians in whether they accessed
health-care services within the past month, said the CMA. But this year there is a gap as 59 per cent of Canadians who earn less than $30,000 a year accessed health-care services within the past month, compared to 43 per cent among those earning $60,000 or more. Visit www.safety-reporter.com, article 13629 to see a chart of happiness relating to income.
Proposed PRPP regulations published
OTTAWA – The federal government has pre-published regulatory proposals to address provisions of the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act (Bill C-25).
The regulations will address pro- visions of the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act respecting the fol- lowing: the licensing conditions for a potential administrator of a pooled registered pension Plan (PRPP); the management and investment of funds in members’ accounts; details with respect to the investment options offered to members; criteria against which the requirement to provide low-cost PRPPs can be assessed; conditions under which a PRPP member is allowed to set the contribution rate to zero per cent; information that plan administrators must disclose to plan members, employers and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
The proposed regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 11 for a 30-day public comment period, prior to final consideration by the government. A second package of regulations will follow. PRPPs will be avail- able across Canada once federal tax legislation is passed and the provinces implement their PRPP legislation. The draft can be viewed at www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/ 2012/2012-08-11/pdf/g1-14632.pdf.
