The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) is adding its voice to the call for Ontario to put its proposed provincial pension plan on hold.

The Ontario government should delay the planned implementation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) for at least year, while the possibility of an enhanced Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is in play and the details of the ORPP have yet to be hammered out, CHLIA says in its Ontario budget submission, which was published on Friday.

“We believe that a co-ordinated national approach is far better than a province-by-province approach to improving retirement income adequacy,” the CLHIA submission says. “Consequently, we recommend that initial implementation of the ORPP be deferred by at least one year to address the significant uncertainties that remain with respect to its operation and possible pan-Canadian alternatives.”

In the meantime, the industry trade group says that Ontario should adopt regulations to allow for the implementation of Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs), which the previous federal government championed as an alternative to expanding the CPP. “Many businesses are national in operation and would like to offer PRPPs across the country, but to do so regulations must be in place,” the CLHIA submission says, adding the PRPPs should also be available to the self-employed, who would not be covered by the ORPP.

In addition to the pension issues, the CLHIA submission also calls for the government to leave the taxes on insurance premiums unchanged, and eventually to eliminate these taxes, and the special capital taxes on life insurers, over time. It also recommends that the government utilize ultra-long bonds and make more use of private-public partnerships (P3s) to fund infrastructure development.

The CLHIA submission also proposes that the Ontario government create a new tax incentive to encourage people to buy long-term care insurance. “Such a tax credit would act as an important and powerful signal from government about the need for Ontarians to take financial responsibility for their potential long-term care expenses,” the submission says, noting that CLHIA has recommended a similar measure at the federal level.