Research conducted for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) shows that employees are concerned about the effect the proposed Ontario Registered Pension Plan (ORPP) could have on their group retirement savings plans.

The online survey, conducted by Environics for CLHIA in January, asked 401 employees with defined contribution or group registered retirement savings plans how they thought their companies would react if they were required to contribute 1.9% of an employee’s salary to an ORPP. The average company size of those surveyed was 3826 employees, and the median company size was 231 employees. Environics says that all survey respondents were screened to make sure they were involved in making decisions about the organization’s retirement plan.

More than three-quarters (78%) of the employees who completed the online questionnaire said their companies would be very (37%) or somewhat (41%) likely to reduce contributions under their existing workplace plan if they were required to participate in the ORPP. Moreover, two thirds (66%) of those surveyed said they believed their employer would consider eliminating their own plan if the ORPP regime were to come into force.

"Environics' survey shows that the Ontario government's proposal threatens the viability of existing plans and could negatively impact the retirement savings of millions of Ontario workers," says CLHIA President and CEO Frank Swedlove. "We strongly urge the Ontario government to consider the unintended consequences of their proposal."