Nearly half of Ontarians continue to support the provincial pension plan amid heated debate

Nationalpost.com
March 2, 2016
By Ashley Csandy

Close to half of Ontario voters support the province’s plan to build a standalone pension plan, a new poll shows.

The controversial Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) is designed to supplement the existing Canada Pension Plan. While business groups, the provincial Progressive Conservatives and academics have raised concerns with its structure and questioned its necessity, Ontarians remain lukewarm in their acceptance of the idea.

Approximately 44 per cent of respondents said they approved of the ORPP as a supplement to the CPP in a survey conducted by Forum Research from February 26 to 29. Of the 1,148 respondents, over a third - 37 per cent - disapproved of the plan, while nearly a fifth, 19 per cent, had no opinion.

That shows little change from a November survey that found 44 per cent support the plan, compared to 34 per cent who disapproved at the time, and in August 2015 the numbers were again very similar: 44 per cent in favour and 40 per cent against.

“While the ORPP does not garner massive support, it is clearly preferred to no ORPP, and Ontarians recognize the necessity of adding some oomph to their pensions,” said Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff.

The support also breaks down along geographic and party lines: 65 per cent of Liberals and 52 per cent of New Democrats support the ORPP compared to 27 per cent of self-identified Tory voters. Torontonians - 52 per cent - are more likely to support it than the general population, as are mothers (48 per cent).

The ORPP will start a phased roll out in 2018 - a year later than originally planned - and the province expects six million Ontarians to be enrolled by 2020. Benefits are expected to start flowing in 2022. Anyone without a comparable workplace pension (and their employer) will be required to contribute 3.8 per cent of their income for the first $90,000 earned annually.

Someone making $45,000 would pay about $16 a week into the plan to be matched by his employer for a total of $1,710 a year, which after 40 years of contributions would make him eligible for $6,410 in annual benefits.

The provincial Progressive Conservatives call the ORPP a “payroll tax” that will hurt employment. The provincial Liberals and Premier Kathleen Wynne say it’s a necessary measure to guarantee retirement security for generations to come, but have said they would cancel it in favour of a national expansion of CPP if the federal government can negotiate a deal with the other provinces.

The poll is considered accurate plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.