Retirement, RRSP and Pensions to Attract and Retain Employees

With the Canadian Pension Plan (Old Age Security) changing its eligibility requirement from 65 to 67 years, retirement is about to get a little further off for many Canadians. Anyone 54 or older on March 31, 2012 will not be affected by the change, but the rest of workforce will. Company pensions are not very common anymore with only 6 million Canadian members.  The major alternative to pension plans are Registered Retirement Saving Plans (RRSP’s). These are either 100% individually funded or are company support plans, but less than 70% of Canadians make RRSP contributions.
The BC Government has recently introduced legislation targeted at helping small employers and their employees participate in Pension plans, but this has been placed on hold because of the upcoming Provincial Elections. In the meantime we predict that RRSP and Pension plans are going to become a major differentiator for attracting and retaining employees.  Retirement funding is top of mind, as both baby boomers and their children start to see their parents and grandparents struggle with the cost of retirement.
Recruiters and Employers need to understand total rewards packages and specifically be able to articulate the value of  Pension or RRSP plans to potential candidates.