Canada. Membership in Registered Pension Plans up 2.4%

As of January 1, 2008, membership in registered pension plans (RPPs) in Canada amounted to 5.9 million, an increase of more than 140,000, or 2.4%, from the previous year.

The number of RPPs reached 19,185, an increase of 590. Increases in the number of plans in recent years have come mainly from plans with fewer than 10 members.

These small plans accounted for more than one-half of all RPPs, but less than 1% of total membership. The 28 plans with 30,000 members or more accounted for about 47% of all membership.

Public sector plans added 96,500 members in 2007, accounting for nearly 70% of the total increase. Private sector plans added 43,800 members.

Private sector plans had just over 3 million members, or 52% of the total, but this proportion has declined in recent years.

Membership among women rose slightly faster than among men. Women accounted for 2.9 million of total membership, or 48.5%, while men accounted for 3.0 million, or 51.5%.

About 38.3% of paid workers participated in an RPP, a slight increase from 2006. Coverage rates in the public sector rose from 83.2% of all employees to 83.9%. Rates in the private sector remained virtually unchanged at just over 25%.

Defined benefit pension plans remained the predominant type, accounting for 4.5 million members or nearly 77% of total membership. However, defined contribution plans reached 935,000 members in 2007, accounting for close to 16% of the total.

Membership in combination pension plans reached almost 370,000 in 2007. These accounted for 6.3% of all membership.

Total employee and employer contributions to RPPs in 2007 exceeded $40 billion for a second consecutive year. Employers contributed 68% of total contributions in 2007, compared with 72% in the previous year.

Source:Statistics Canada, June 8, 2009

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