Ottawa’s Secret Debt: The Burden and Risks of Federal Employee Pensions

The unfunded liability in the pension plans for federal government employees was $90 billion higher than the reported number in 2013/14, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Ottawa’s Secret Debt: The Burden and Risks of Federal Employee Pensions,” authors William B.P. Robson and Alexandre Laurin argue that the way Ottawa reports its pension obligations obscures the cost its plans currently impose on Canadian taxpayers, and leaves Canadians in the dark about how changes in economic circumstances cause that burden to shrink or to grow.