The demographic time bomb : Bombe à retardement démographique

In this report, the Committee summarizes some of the key elements in the presentations that were made to us during our brief examination of this critical topic, a topic that has been mentioned in a number of previous Parliamentary reports – including, for example, the 1966 report of the Special Senate Committee on Aging and the 2001 Interim Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs [...] The size of the working-age population is expected to grow, except during the 2002 to 2030 period when the baby boom generation is expected to retire; the working-age population as a proportion of the total population is, however, expected to decline. [...] As a complement to those recommendations, the Committee in this report makes recommendations that we feel must be implemented – on an expeditious basis – to help Canada address the challenges that lie ahead as the size of the working-age population declines relative to the size of the non-working-age population, as our population continues to age, and as we seek to maximize our growth and prosperi [...] Witnesses identified the work disincentive effects within the Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement/Spouses Allowance (OAS/GIS/SA) program, and focused in particular on such issues as the clawback that occurs with the GIS in the presence of earned income and the incentive provided by the Spouses Allowance to abstain from paid work. [...] It would … require that working pensioners contribute to the plan, which is currently not the case in the CPP.” The Chief Actuary advocated the removal of “all disincentives in the (retirement income) system to work later, whether they are in the Canada Pension Plan, the private pension plans or the Income Tax Act.” Finally, the Conference Board of Canada questioned why the Canada Pension Plan per