Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Canada one of a few industrialized countries not to raise the age of eligibility for government retirement programs like OAS and GIS
The Age of Eligibility for Public Retirement Programs in the OECD: 2022 Update
Summary
- The population is aging in high income countries in the OECD, including Canada.
- Of the 22 high-income OECD countries apart from Canada, 16 have either already increased the age of eligibility for public retirement programs to above age 65 or are in the process of doing so.
- Five countries are indexing their age of eligibility to life expectancy, meaning that the retirement age will automatically adjust upward if life expectancy increases.
- There is a clear trend across high-income countries towards increasing eligibility ages for retirement benefits.
- Once all the currently planned reforms of the high-income OECD countries are fully implemented, Canada’s 65-year-old age of eligibility will put it in a tie for having the lowest retirement age of the high-income countries.
- In 2015, Canada’s government reversed a 2012 reform that would have increased the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to 67 by 2029. The federal government estimates that this reversal will cost $10.4 billion in 2030.
Share
-
Ben Eisen
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Ben Eisen is a Senior Fellow in Fiscal and Provincial Prosperity Studies and former Director of Provincial Prosperity Studies at theFraser Institute. He holds a BA from the University of Toronto and an MPP from the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance. Prior to joining the Fraser Institute Mr. Eisen was the Director of Research and Programmes at the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax. He also worked for the Citizens Budget Commission in New York City, and in Winnipeg as the Assistant Research Director for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Mr. Eisen has published influential studies on several policy topics, including intergovernmental relations, public finance, and higher education policy. He has been widely quoted in major newspapers including the National Post, Chronicle Herald, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald.… Read more Read Less… -
Steve Lafleur
Steve Lafleur is a research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a former senior fellow of theFraser Institute and a former senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University and a B.A. from Laurentian University where he studied Political Science and Economics. He was previously a Senior Policy Analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Winnipeg and is a Contributing Editor to New Geography. His past work has focused primarily on housing, transportation, local government and inter-governmental fiscal relations. His current focus is on economic competitiveness of jurisdictions in the Prairie provinces. His writing has appeared in every major national and regional Canadian newspaper and his work has been cited by many sources including the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Reason Foundation.… Read more Read Less… -
Jason Clemens
Executive Vice President, Fraser Institute
Jason Clemens is the Executive Vice President of the Fraser Institute and the President of the Fraser Institute Foundation. Hehas an Honors Bachelors Degree of Commerce and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor as well as a Post Baccalaureate Degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University. Before rejoining the Fraser Institute in 2012, he was the director of research and managing editor at the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute and prior to joining the MLI, Mr. Clemens spent a little over three years in the United States with the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute. He has published over 70 major studies on a wide range of topics, including taxation, government spending, labor market regulation, banking, welfare reform, health care, productivity, and entrepreneurship. He has published over 300 shorter articles, which have appeared in such newspapers as The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Washington Post, Globe and Mail, National Post, and a host of U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers. Mr. Clemens has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs across Canada and the United States. He has appeared before committees of both the House of Commons and the Senate in Canada as an expert witness and briefed state legislators in California. In 2006, he received the coveted Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award presented by Caldwell Partners as well as an Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor. In 2011, he was awarded (along with his co-authors) the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for the best-selling book The Canadian Century. In 2012, the Governor General of Canada on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, presented Mr. Clemens with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions to the country.… Read more Read Less…
Related Topics
Related Articles
Alberta government’s AIMCo shakeup could mean government control of pension fund assets
By: Steven Globerman and Tegan Hill
Alberta government should keep AIMCo free from government intervention
By: Steven Globerman and Tegan Hill
Canadians should understand costs of expanding Old Age Security
By: Jake Fuss and Grady Munro