TORONTO, June 20, 2016 /CNW/ - The life and health insurance industry welcomes Canada's Finance Ministers' commitment to moving forward with addressing the gaps in retirement savings by Canadians. "While we look forward to more details, we are pleased that the Federal and Provincial governments have committed to a modest increase in CPP," noted Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) President and CEO Frank Swedlove. "However, we continue to believe any CPP enhancement should be targeted to those sectors of the population that need to increase their savings for retirement, and that they will be available to all Canadians no matter where they work or live."
The CLHIA is part of a coalition of 15 organizations that is calling for a coordinated national targeted approach to retirement savings. They believe that the current system of public and private options can be enhanced, including:
| i. |
offering greater support for certain groups who live below the poverty level, such as by eliminating the claw-back for surviving spouses under the C/QPP. |
| ii. |
providing for a modest increase in C/QPP contributions targeted to modest-income Canadians, where income is greater than say $27,500. |
| iii. |
encouraging and facilitating retirement savings in the workplace, where it is easiest to save. |
About the CLHIA
The CLHIA is a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada's life and health insurance business. The industry provides a wide range of financial security products such as life insurance, annuities (including RRSPs, RRIFs and pensions) and supplementary health insurance to 28 million Canadians. It also holds close to $720 billion of assets in Canada and employs about 155,000 Canadians.
SOURCE Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.
Wendy Hope, Vice President, External Relations, (613) 691-6001, [email protected]
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