Two-thirds of Canadian households saving for retirement, census suggests
TORONTO — Two-thirds of households are setting aside money for retirement, taking advantage of either a registered pension plan, an RRSP or a tax-free savings account, Statistics Canada said Wednesday as it released the latest batch of numbers from the 2016 census.
Of 14 million households, 65.2 per cent made a contribution in 2015 — the most recent year for which data was available — to one or more of the three major savings vehicles, an apparent counterpoint to the prevailing narrative that too many Canadians take a cavalier approach to retirement.
Different generations took different approaches: Major income earners aged 35 to 54 were prone to make use of registered pension plans and RRSPs, while those younger than 35 and those older than 54 were more likely to contribute to a TFSA.
Or, in Statistics Canada’s words: “Participation in savings plans followed strong life-cycle patterns.”