Finance ministers tap brakes on CPP expansion

Ontario pension tax continues full steam ahead

TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Canada's top job creators are breathing a bit easier after the country's finance ministers emerged from their meeting yesterday to report that no decision had been reached to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).  Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and his provincial and territorial counterparts, reported they would engage in further study and consultation, without committing to any particular "end game."  

CFIB president Dan Kelly said small business owners should be relieved by the announcement, but also expressed a desire to see a shift in this conversation.

"Revisiting a bad idea over and over is not going to suddenly make it a good idea," said Kelly.  "While small firms can take some comfort that finance ministers did not jeopardize the fragile economy by signing onto a giant payroll tax hike, the threat remains. This idea needs to be taken off the table for good."

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) had sent a letter to all finance ministers in advance of their meeting, asking them to reject plans to force additional CPP/QPP premiums on business owners and working Canadians, citing new economic data showing a CPP/QPP hike would do sizeable damage to the economy over the next seven years.

According to econometric modeling by CFIB and University of Toronto researchers, an Ontario-style expansion to CPP/QPP would slow job growth by 110,000 positions by 2020 and swell combined federal and provincial deficits by $10 billion.

"It is high time to change the retirement savings channel and focus on fully implementing voluntary Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs) in all provinces, as has happened in Quebec. Also, there is a pressing need for Ontario to abandon its ill-advised Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) in order to protect Ontario jobs and the economy."

CFIB is Canada's largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region.

SOURCE Canadian Federation of Independent Business

To arrange an interview with Dan Kelly, please contact Ryan Mallough at 416-222-8022, or [email protected].