Canadian Megatrends, March 2015

Released: 2015-03-24

Pensions: The ups and downs of pension coverage in Canada

Changes in the economic landscape have led to significant movements in workers' pension coverage over the last century. The March edition of Canadian Megatrends examines the shifting patterns in how Canadians are funding their retirement years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, employer-sponsored pension plans—also referred to as registered pension plans (RPPs)—were restricted to workers in a small segment of the economy, including the federal public sector, railways and some banks. But, following the Second World War, pension coverage expanded to the point where, by the end of the 1970s, about 45% of employees had a job with a RPP.

Pension coverage evolved differently for men and women. Men's RPP coverage grew rapidly from the late 1940s to the early 1960s and at a more moderate pace up until the late 1970s, reaching about 52% in 1979. After the early 1980s, male pension coverage began to decline, as unionization rates fell, employment shifted away from high-coverage industries such as manufacturing, and firms' incentives to offer new plans declined. By 2011, roughly 37% of male workers had an employer-sponsored pension plan.

Pension coverage among women, in turn, grew from just over 25% in the early 1960s to 40% in 2011 as more women found their way into relatively well-paid jobs and high-coverage occupations.

The article "Pensions: The ups and downs of pension coverage in Canada," part of Canadian Megatrends (Catalogue number11-630-X), is now available from The Daily module of our website.

Contact information

For more information, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).

To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact René Morissette (613-951-3608; rene.morissette@statcan.gc.ca), Social Analysis and Modelling Division.