Many Canadians do not have a clear understanding of their retirement plans, and in particular, don’t understand the distinction between RPPs and group RRSPs, Statistics Canada said Friday.

According to StatsCan, a 2001 survey found that an estimated 390,000 full-time permanent employees in the private sector, or about 4%of the total, thought they had a retirement plan, but in reality did not.

The employees were working in firms that offered neither a registered pension plan (RPP) nor a group registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), Statistics Canada said.

Among immigrants who arrived in Canada in 1991 or later, roughly 9% thought they had at least one retirement plan, when they actually did not.

“Among workers who reported having a group RRSP but were in firms that did not have one, fully two-thirds had an employer that offered a registered pension plan to at least part of the workforce,” Statistics Canada said. “This suggests that many workers confuse group RRSPs with RPPs.”

University graduates, unionized workers, workers in large establishments and those employed in finance, insurance, communication and other utilities were reported to have the best understanding of their pension converage.

Canadians had accumulated an estimated $1.15 trillion in the three main retirement programs — RPPs, RRSPs, and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans — by the end of 2001.