From: John Stapleton and Colin Busby To: Retirement observers Date: June 17, 2026 Re: Houses are Not Pensions, Sewing Confusion in Debates on the Intergenerational Divide Canadians approaching retirement are, on paper, wealthier than any previous generation. Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security shows that the net worth of households aged 55 to 64 rose by 91 percent on average, from $457,300 to $873,400, between 1999 and 2023, after adjusting for inflation. That is an […]
Published in The Globe and Mail. Canadians approaching retirement are wealthier, on paper, than any previous generation. Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security shows that, between 1999 and 2023, the net worth of people aged 55 to 64 rose by 91 per cent on average, from around $457,000 to more than $873,000, after adjusting for […]
More than 9 million Canadians don’t have a company pension plan because they work for a small business that doesn’t think it can afford one. Finance veteran Keith Ambachtsheer and industry leader Alex Mazer have a solution that keeps SMEs competitive during unprecedented times. Read the report: https://cdhowe.org/publication/spreading-the-benefits-a-targeted-tax-credit-is-needed-to-expand-retirement-plan-coverage-in-canadas-private-sector/
More than 9 million Canadians don’t have a company pension plan because they work for a small business that doesn’t think it can afford one. Finance veteran Keith Ambachtsheer and industry leader Alex Mazer have a solution that keeps SMEs competitive during unprecedented times. Read the report: https://cdhowe.org/publication/spreading-the-benefits-a-targeted-tax-credit-is-needed-to-expand-retirement-plan-coverage-in-canadas-private-sector/
From: Keith Ambachtsheer To: Canadian pension observersDate: April 13, 2026 Re: Why is Ontario Spurning Big Pension Managers for its New Investment Fund? The government of Ontario recently announced its intention to create an Ontario Investment Fund which would finance the building of durable assets in minerals, life sciences, AI, defence, and “new economy” manufacturing in the province. The […]
From: Keith Ambachtsheer and Alex Mazer To: Canadian pension observers Date: April 7, 2026 Re: Here’s How to Get Retirement Plans for More Canadian Workers More than nine million Canadian employees lack access to a workplace retirement plan. Many of them are likely to reach retirement age with inadequate savings, facing a decline in how they live just when they’re most vulnerable. Others will delay retirement, remaining in […]
From: Mark FawcettTo: Pension policy watchersDate: April 2, 2026 Re: How UK Reforms Almost Doubled Pension Participation In the early 2000s, there was a major pension savings gap for workers in the United Kingdom. Around 50 percent of people had no pension savings. And the government decided it must do something about it. Various options were considered. One was to boost the state pension through […]
Published in The Hill Times. More than nine million Canadian employees lack access to a workplace retirement plan. Many of these workers are likely to reach retirement age with inadequate savings, facing a decline in how they live just when they’re most vulnerable. Others will delay retirement, remaining in the workforce longer than they planned […]
From: René Beaudry To: Retirement decumulation watchersDate: March 26, 2026 Re: A Smarter Way to Turn Retirement Savings into Lifetime Income Canada’s retirement system has long been admired for its stability, but it is increasingly showing signs of strain. While public programs such as the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security provide a foundation, the private retirement landscape has […]
To: Finance CanadaFrom: Nick Dahir and Alexandre Laurin Date: February 6, 2026Re: How Retirement Benefit Clawbacks Hit Lower-Income Taxpayers Hardest The taxation of retirement income is a key consideration for pension, tax, and fiscal policy. Drawdowns of tax-deferred retirement savings are taxable. Future government revenues depend on how withdrawals are taxed in retirement, and government spending […]
February 3, 2026 – More than nine million working Canadians lack access to a workplace retirement plan, with the gap most pronounced among employees of small- and mid-sized businesses, according to a new C.D Howe Institute report. As a result, many are left to make inconsistent, often costly, savings decisions that increase the risk of […]
by Keith Ambachtsheer and Alex Mazer Canada ranked 16th out of 52 countries in an authoritative Global Pension Index in 2025, which identified limited coverage of occupational pension plans, particularly in the private sector, as the country’s greatest area for improvement. More than nine million Canadian employees lack access to a workplace retirement plan, largely […]
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From: John Stapleton and Colin Busby To: Retirement observers Date: June 17, 2026 Re: Houses are Not Pensions, Sewing Confusion in Debates on the Intergenerational Divide Canadians approaching retirement are, on paper, wealthier than any previous generation. Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security shows that the net worth of households aged 55 to 64 rose by 91 percent on average, from $457,300 to $873,400, between 1999 and 2023, after adjusting for inflation. That is an […] 
Published in The Globe and Mail. Canadians approaching retirement are wealthier, on paper, than any previous generation. Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security shows that, between 1999 and 2023, the net worth of people aged 55 to 64 rose by 91 per cent on average, from around $457,000 to more than $873,000, after adjusting for […] 
More than 9 million Canadians don’t have a company pension plan because they work for a small business that doesn’t think it can afford one. Finance veteran Keith Ambachtsheer and industry leader Alex Mazer have a solution that keeps SMEs competitive during unprecedented times. Read the report: https://cdhowe.org/publication/spreading-the-benefits-a-targeted-tax-credit-is-needed-to-expand-retirement-plan-coverage-in-canadas-private-sector/ 
From: Keith Ambachtsheer To: Canadian pension observersDate: April 13, 2026 Re: Why is Ontario Spurning Big Pension Managers for its New Investment Fund? The government of Ontario recently announced its intention to create an Ontario Investment Fund which would finance the building of durable assets in minerals, life sciences, AI, defence, and “new economy” manufacturing in the province. The […] 
From: Keith Ambachtsheer and Alex Mazer To: Canadian pension observers Date: April 7, 2026 Re: Here’s How to Get Retirement Plans for More Canadian Workers More than nine million Canadian employees lack access to a workplace retirement plan. Many of them are likely to reach retirement age with inadequate savings, facing a decline in how they live just when they’re most vulnerable. Others will delay retirement, remaining in […] 
From: Mark FawcettTo: Pension policy watchersDate: April 2, 2026 Re: How UK Reforms Almost Doubled Pension Participation In the early 2000s, there was a major pension savings gap for workers in the United Kingdom. Around 50 percent of people had no pension savings. And the government decided it must do something about it. Various options were considered. One was to boost the state pension through […] 
From: René Beaudry To: Retirement decumulation watchersDate: March 26, 2026 Re: A Smarter Way to Turn Retirement Savings into Lifetime Income Canada’s retirement system has long been admired for its stability, but it is increasingly showing signs of strain. While public programs such as the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security provide a foundation, the private retirement landscape has […] 
To: Finance CanadaFrom: Nick Dahir and Alexandre Laurin Date: February 6, 2026Re: How Retirement Benefit Clawbacks Hit Lower-Income Taxpayers Hardest The taxation of retirement income is a key consideration for pension, tax, and fiscal policy. Drawdowns of tax-deferred retirement savings are taxable. Future government revenues depend on how withdrawals are taxed in retirement, and government spending […] 
February 3, 2026 – More than nine million working Canadians lack access to a workplace retirement plan, with the gap most pronounced among employees of small- and mid-sized businesses, according to a new C.D Howe Institute report. As a result, many are left to make inconsistent, often costly, savings decisions that increase the risk of […]