A key question in Canada's pensions debate is whether Canadians will be able to maintain their living standards in retirement, and if policy needs to respond to the risk that some will experience painful declines. To date, it has been very difficult to estimate how current trends might affect...

Important changes are now underway to Canada Pension Plan “adjustment factors” that will increase the penalty for those who retire before age 65, and will raise the amount of additional CPP benefits available for those who delay retirement beyond 65. The new pension adjustment factors have...

Low income seniors face extremely heavy tax burdens across Canada, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Who Loses Most? The Impact of Taxes and Transfers on Retirement Incomes,” authors Finn Poschmann and Alexandre Laurin show that seniors can be hit hard by taxes and benefit...

Government policymakers should not overlook enhancing RRSPs as a way to boost retirement savings by Canadians, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “The Overlooked Option for Boosting Retirement Savings: Higher Limits for RRSPs,” author Alexandre Laurin finds that those who...

This paper examines financial literacy in Canada using a dataset from early 2023 that measures the knowledge of middle-aged Canadians regarding their retirement income system. We first document important financial literacy differences across gender, age, education, and labor market status. Using...