- Message from the Co-Chairmen (Summer 2011)
- Gray Matters: Special Section on Aging and Retirement
- Don't Let Your Lunchbox Make You Sick
- A Well Filled Plate
- Food Allergy? Vigilance Is the Only Shot
- Union Sector Safer Despite Right-to-Work Laws
- ACOs Offer Hope of Health Care Cost Containment
- Prepare Today So You Can Help Them Tomorrow
- How Will You Retire?
- Getting the Most from the “Chronologically Gifted”
- Retirement Age
- Taxes And Retirement
- Medicare
- Retirement In Canada
- Today's Living Generations
- Gray Matters Online Resources

Retirement in Canada
Three basic pillars comprise the Canadian retirement system.
The first is a publicly financed system of pension benefits: Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and Allowance programs. Most Canadians aged 65 or older qualify for OAS, but income limits apply. GIS provides an added benefit for low-income citizens and residents. Up to certain income limits, Allowance programs provide further benefits for spouses, widows and widowers.
The second pillar is the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and its parallel Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). All employed Canadians between the ages of 18 and 65 contribute to one or the other in order to receive benefits after retirement. In response to Canada’s growing senior population and the need to maintain reserves, changes in benefits are being phased in over the next few years. More specific information about how these changes will impact your retirement is available at the Service Canada and the QPP websites.
The third pillar consists of registered pension plans (RPPs) and registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs). RPPs are employer-sponsored defined benefit plans that, at retirement, provide a pre-determined percentage of working salary. RRSPs, administered by regulated financial institutions, are defined contribution plans that provide a retirement benefit based on accumulated contributions and investment income. They may be individual, group or deferred profit-sharing plans.
Health care is ensured through Canada’s single-payer, national health care program, often called Medicare.
For more information, see “Gray Matter” online resources at www.lhsfna.org.