The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) applauds the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) for addressing retirement savings in a comprehensive policy resolution passed at its 2013 annual general meeting and convention earlier this month in Chatham-Kent.
“Government support of frameworks that provide Ontario employers and employees with a broad array of quality choices is critical to increasing workplace-based retirement savings programs,” said Joanne De Laurentiis, president and CEO of IFIC.
“The Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s resolution on pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) recognizes the value of providing a range of retirement savings options by encouraging the government to continue to support improvements to other forms of retirement savings, such as group registered retirement savings plans (GRRSPs),” she added.
The OCC is urging the federal government to modify the federal tax rules governing GRRSPs to bring them in line with those rules that would govern PRPPs. The OCC believes that GRRSPs are an integral part of Ontario’s current retirement income system.
As part of the province’s 2013 Budget, released last week, Ontario’s Minister of Finance announced the government’s intention to undertake consultations to develop legislation on the establishment and administration of PRPPs.
IFIC generally supports the goal underlying PRPPs, and welcomes the OCC’s support of improvements to the rules governing GRRSPs that would align them more closely with rules governing other plans, such as PRPPs, and offer employers a range of meaningful options.