Canadians “overwhelmingly” want a program such as the federal government’s proposal for pooled registered pension plans, which promises to make it easier for employers to offer a pension plan, suggests a recent online poll conducted for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.

In fact, 90% of survey respondents support Ottawa’s proposal to created PRPPs, which would be administered by regulated financial services institutions.

“If there was a surprise, it is the sense of unanimity that the results show,” says Frank Swedlove, the CLHIA’s president. “With the support of the initiative, it is clear that Canadians understand the concept and understand that this is an opportunity to improve their retirement savings.”

Support for PRPPs is highest — at 92% — among people working for private companies, those most likely to benefit from the introduction of these plans. Survey respondents in Alberta were the strongest supporters, with 94% support for the PRPP proposal, followed by 91% of survey respondents in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. In Quebec, 86% supported the new pension plan.

“There is certainly a recognition that if you work in the private sector, there aren’t the opportunities to save for retirement in the workplace that there used to be,” Swedlove says. “Our economy has shifted from one in which the focus has been on large employers to small and medium-sized businesses. It is those firms, particularly, that were not providing any opportunities for saving for retirement. The reason for that is just that it was administratively difficult and costly to do so. This [PRPP] vehicle would create an opportunity for [smaller companies] to do that.”

One response to the survey was particularly noteworthy, Swedlove says: “The fact 55% said they would be saving more if this type of vehicle existed was a very important number.”

(A full 60% of households with young children under the age of 17 had said they would save more if PRPPs were in place.)

Swedlove describes this finding as “simply a matter of access. It is a lot tougher to save your money for retirement when you get the money from your paycheque and there are competing demands for that money. Frankly, if it comes off your paycheque at source and you never had that money in your hand, the natural tendency with people is to save more.”

The CLHIA survey also found that Canadians understand and recognize the value of the Canada Pension Plan to the overall retirement savings system — with 59% supporting some government role — but respondents also indicated they want to have choice in investment decisions, as well as participation by the private sector. Just 13% said they wanted to have their retirement savings only in a public plan.

“Overall, the Canadian [pension] system is considered positively. Canada ranks in the top five pension systems,” Swedlove says. “It reflects the contribution the CPP makes and the opportunity for savings through private-sector means. However, one of the weaknesses identified is the lack of ability for many Canadians to save [through] the private sector.

“What the government is doing,” he adds, “is that it is addressing, specifically, the weakness that has been identified in our system. The fact that more than 50% of private-sector workers do not have access to savings for retirement in the workplace is a real gap that this program is meant to deal with.”

The CLHIA survey also found that younger employees continue to trail older workers when it comes to saving for retirement. More than half, 54%, of private company employees aged 18 to 29 say they are not currently saving at all for retirement.

In contrast, the percentage of those saving for retirement jumps sharply with age, as 75% of those between the ages of 30 and 49 and 78% of those between 50 and 64 years of age are putting money away for retirement. IE