Participation in Private Retirement Savings Plans, 1997 to 2008 - ARCHIVED

Amidst the financial crisis and changes in the labour market, retirement savings plans are subject to greater scrutiny. The retirement income system in Canada stands on both public and private retirement savings plans. This article describes the coverage of Canadian workers by private retirement savings plans. Using cross-sectional tax data from the T1 Family File, we describe the coverage of Canadian employed tax filers aged 15 or more by employer-sponsored pension plans (EPPs) and whether or not they contributed to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The share of employed tax filers participating in either type of plan declined from 54% in 1997 to 50% in 2008 and this is mainly driven by a decreasing share of employed tax filers contributing to a RRSP. The share of employed tax filers participating in an EPP remained fairly stable over the period.