Keith Ambachtsheer, a thought leader in the pension industry and president of KPA Advisory Services, recently penned an op-ed to the Globe & Mail on the retirement savings realities of Canadian workers in the public and private sectors.

“The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index ranks Canada’s system No. 11 out of 44 countries, ahead of many countries, but behind the Nordic nations, the Netherlands, Australia and Britain. What will it take for Canada to catch up with, or even surpass, these top countries in pension system quality? The answer is surprisingly obvious, but it will take extraordinary leadership efforts to get us from here to there.”

He explores why the successful transition of retirement plans to Canadian-model pension plans in the private sector is essential to making Canada a top pension country – and highlights CAAT Pension Plan as already being part of the solution.

“How is this private-sector transition to the Canadian model actually going to happen? There are three possible paths, all of which have already been brought into play in some form:

• Existing Canadian pension-fund model organizations offer their pension management infrastructure to private-sector employers: This option is already being successfully implemented by the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) pension organization.
• A government entity decides to create a Canadian pension-fund model organization for private-sector workers and retirees: Similar initiatives have been launched in a growing number of U.S. states and Britain.
• Private-sector financial services providers create one or more new Canadian model offerings: The Common Wealth and Purpose Investments organizations have both launched services and investment options consistent with the principles of the Canadian pension-fund model.”

Read the full op-ed in the Globe & Mail here and the full policy paper on KPA Advisory Services here.