Inadequate pension coverage has become an issue too major to ignore, industry associations told advisors and dealers at a conference on Tuesday.

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada and Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada, called for solutions to the fact that Canadians are not saving enough for retirement.

“Fewer and fewer Canadians are covered by pension plans each year,” said Howard Fergusson, chair of Advocis’ Pension Task Force. He noted that only 24% of private sector employees have an employment pension. “This decline in pension coverage must be reversed.”

Advocis is calling for regulatory changes to allow for a more favourable environment for defined contribution pension plans, including harmonized regulations between provinces and federally. This would reduce complexities and costs that discourage the establishment of plans, according to Fergusson.

Advocis also urges policymakers to create incentives for small and medium-sized businesses to sponsor pension plans.

Meanwhile, IFIC is calling for more research and greater awareness on the issue. Rather than focusing specifically on boosting pension coverage, IFIC is exploring a broader range of solutions to boost savings through RRSPs and other mechanisms.

“We’re trying to keep the focus on retirement savings as a whole,” said Rob Neish, chair of the IFIC Retirement Savings Task Force.

Joann Cain, executive director of financial and corporate senior policy for the Government of British Columbia, also spoke at the conference. She outlined the pension reform plan that has been developed by the Alberta and B.C. governments to address the issue of a shortage of pension coverage. The governments hope to expand the scale of the plan to include other provinces.

“The objective is to make it easier for everybody to participate,” she said. “We hope it will be national.”

Cain noted that this is a possibility, since all the provinces are currently involved in discussions about pension reform.

IE