A small-business advocacy group is calling on policymakers to put the planned expansion of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) on hold, citing market research that shows a lack of understanding of the planned changes among Canadians.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which is lobbying against the planned CPP expansion, says the results of a consumer poll conducted by Ipsos finds that “most Canadians don’t know how the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) works or what CPP expansion will mean.”
The online poll, which was conducted between August 25 and August 29 for the CFIB, involved a sample of slightly more than 2,000 employed or retired Canadians, excluding the self-employed. (The results are considered accurate to within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.)
The poll found, among other things, that almost 40% of those surveyed think the government pays for part of the CPP; only 25% know it will take about 40 years before the full increase in benefits is available; and more than 70% don’t know that current retirees won’t see their benefits rise as a result of the planned CPP expansion. The CFIB also reports that the poll found that 70% would oppose CPP expansion “if it means their wages will be frozen during the phase-in period.”
“The results show that governments have been anything but clear about the reality of this proposal and that public support for the deal vanishes when people are presented with the likely impacts,” said CFIB president Dan Kelly.
The CFIB argues that the planned changes to the CPP should be put on hold to allow more consultation.
“This should be a wake-up call. Canadians are telling their governments that they have a lot more work to do before moving forward with any kind of CPP expansion,” Kelly said. “Education, consultation, and only then, action. At this point, it would be irresponsible to proceed otherwise.”
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