Nearly 1 million Canadian families may not have saved enough for retirement, according to a survey of released by Statistics Canada.

The Survey of Financial Security found that in 1999, close to 1 million families with a major income recipient aged 45 to 64, and still working, may not have saved enough for retirement. That is, they may not be able to replace at least two-thirds of their pre-retirement earnings or to generate an income above a level approximating StatsCan’s low-income cutoffs.

“In addition to employment income, a number of other factors have an impact on the proportion of family units that might not have saved enough for retirement. They include home ownership status, occupation and employment status.” Alberta and Ontario have highest proportion of family units that may not have saved enough, it reports.

More than 1.5 million families whose highest income recipient is aged 45 or older had no private pension assets in 1999, representing 25% of the families in that age group. For these families, public pension programs –such as the Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans — are now, or will be, essential.

In 1999 private pension savings accounted for about 29% of the value of all the assets of Canadian families, ranking second only to their homes (32%). Private pension assets totaled well over an estimated $1 trillion in 1999. They consisted of $604 billion in employer pension plans, as well as $408 billion in RRSPs and RRIFs.

Nearly 60% of family units had RRSPs or RRIFs in 1999, with a median value of $20,000. Although fewer family units, about 47%, had assets in employer pension plans, the median value of those assets was $49,300.

The survey, which covered about 16,000 responding households, collected information on the assets and debts of families and unattached individuals from May to July 1999. It obtained data on the value of all major financial and non-financial assets, and on the money owing on mortgages, vehicles, credit cards, student loans and other debts.