Canada sole member of G7 not raising retirement age, adding big costs: report
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
A Fraser Institute report says Canada is out of step with most major industrialized countries which are raising the age of eligibility for retirement programs
VANCOUVER—Canada has little company among its industrialized peers when it comes to maintaining its retirement age at 65.
According to a new Fraser Institute study, Ottawa is the sole G7 country with no plans to raise its retirement age and one of a handful of high-income OECD countries holding out for a 65-year-old retirement age.
“Like every other high-income country, Canada’s population is aging, but unlike most of our peers, Canada is doing very little to prepare for the greying of society,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute and a co-author of the new report.
While the previous Conservative government did have plans to raise the age of retirement eligibility to 67 by 2029—the point at which retirees qualify for government assistance programs—the new Liberal government scrapped that plan last year.
The delay is expected to cost an estimated $10.4 billion by 2030.
Though all other G7 nations do have plans to increase their retirement ages, it’s worth noting Japan’s retirement age is currently 60. The Asian country plans to hike the eligibility age to 65—the same as Canada’s.
The five other members of the Group of Seven countries plan retirement ages of at least 67 as people work and live longer.
Some OECD nations are also indexing their retirement age against life expectancy, meaning the retirement age will increase along with lifespan.
