Description: offers a wide range of data on pension plans provided by employers

Who/what is surveyed: census of all employer-sponsored pension plans in Canada

How the data is collected: the information is taken from administrative records of government pension authorities provided to Statistics Canada; for approximately 1% of the plans, employers are surveyed directly by Statistics Canada

Geographic detail: Canada, provinces and territories

Demographic detail: sex

Information collected:
1. type of pension plan
2. proportion of earnings contributed to pension plans
3. pension coverage by province
4. private/public sector and industry breakdown

Frequency: Annual (except for 1991)

Data availability: comparable data are available for selected years starting in 1960

Reference period: January 1

Release dates: 21 months after the reference period

What makes the data valuable:
1. the major source of data on work-related pension plans
2. contain information on the extent of pension plan coverage
3. provide data on selected characteristics of pension plans such as eligibility criteria, type of plan, contribution and benefit rates, retirement ages and death benefits

Products and services:
1. Pension Plans in Canada (Catalogue no. 74-401) which is available both in paper and electronically.
2. Microdata files and special tabulations are available on a cost-recovery basis.

Responsible division: Income Statistics