A recent survey of Canadian workers found that respondents were twice as likely to support a Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) (64%), rather than increase their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) contributions (34%) as a means to save more for retirement.

Commissioned by Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC), the National Workplace Savings Survey asked more than 7,700 employed Canadians about their attitudes and convictions towards retirement planning and savings and their attitudes towards enrolling in a PRPP.

“Canadians strongly support the introduction of PRPPs and are looking to their provincial governments and employers to make it happen,” says Sue Reibel, senior vice president and general manager, group retirement solutions, at Manulife.

Across the country, 74% of respondents said it’s ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for their province to introduce legislation to make PRPPs available. That figure climbs as high as 85% in Quebec and 84% in Newfoundland.

PRPPs are workplace savings plans for employees of small to medium-sized businesses or the self-employed with contributions conveniently deducted from each pay. Contributions are invested in a larger pool of funds, which can result in lower fees than if an individual invested on her or his own. Employees are automatically enrolled but can opt-out and have the flexibility to increase or reduce contributions.

Only 10% of Canadians employed at workplaces with less than 100 employees have access to a pension plan. The federal government introduced PRPP’s to help address this gap and in turn the gap between the savings rates of Canadians and their expected retirement needs.

Of those surveyed, 69% are worried that they won’t have enough savings to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement. That figure increases to 78% for those that don’t currently have a workplace retirement plan.
The absence of a workplace retirement plan would discourage 69% of employees from switching jobs to that employer.

Seventy-seven per cent believe saving through a PRPP would make it easier for them to reach their retirement goals.

“These survey findings reinforce the concerns Canadians have about the retirement savings gap and their belief that PRPPs can play an important part in bridging that gap,” says Reibel. “They underscore the importance of the work that the federal and provincial governments started in 2010 when they introduced PRPPs.”

The online survey was conducted from October 23 to November 7 by Vision Critical among 7,759 randomly selected employed Canadian adults who are also Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error is +/- 1.1%, 19 times out of 20.