Calgary: A report commissioned by the Alberta government estimates the province would be entitled to more than half the assets of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) if it were to exit the national retirement savings program and go it alone.
A third-party report compiled by consultant Lifeworks calculates that if Alberta gave the required three-year notice to quit CPP next year, it would be entitled to $334 billion, or about 53 per cent, of the national pension plan’s pool by 2027.
Alberta would be the first province to quit CPP; Quebec never joined when it was set up in 1965.
Finance Minister Nate Horner says given Alberta’s young workforce and growing economy, the province has no choice but to let residents choose whether to have an Alberta Pension Plan.
He says an Alberta plan could save residents $5 billion in the first year.
Going it alone on pensions was one plank of former United Conservative premier Jason Kenney’s plan to fight for a “fair deal” with Ottawa. — The Canadian Press