Major issue on pensions – General portrait of retirement in Québec

Quebec already has nearly 2 million retirees on its territory, double the number 20 years ago.

And according to the most recent forecasts from Retraite Québec, the group of Quebecers of retirement age will increase by another million over the next ten years, to approach 2.4 million people.

For the province, struggling with one of the fastest aging populations on the planet (along with Japan), this comes as no surprise. Demographers and actuaries have been sounding the alarm for decades. However, the situation continues to cause concern. In particular, with regard to the weight that, before long, so many beneficiaries will constitute on the shoulders of an ever-decreasing number of contributing workers.

A fear that serves the message, hammered home for years, that each citizen should see to building up a supplementary retirement fund for their old age.

The bare minimum

It must be constantly reminded, insists François L’Italien, coordinator of the Observatory of Retirement, associated with the Institute for Contemporary Economic Research (IREC), “our public pension system was designed to meet the strict needs of basis of a retired person.

At age 65, we are talking about $685.50 per month ($7,707 per year) from the federal Old Age Security (OAS) program, to which is added a maximum of $1,253.59 per month ($15,043 per year) of the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

For a Quebecer with an average income, the OAS and the QPP would replace 35% to 40% of his pre-retirement income. This is roughly half of what a worker who wishes to maintain his standard of living in retirement (70% of work income) will require.

To these government benefits, which constitute the public pension plan for Quebecers, can be added – for 39% of workers – benefits from an employer-sponsored pension plan (public or private), as well as income from savings and investments accumulated by each worker.

According to the Retirement Observatory, the average income of people aged 65 and over in Quebec is $40,331 per year, which is 12% less than the Canadian average and 20% less than the Ontario average.

60% at 80%

The percentage of your gross annual income from work to ensure you have adequate income throughout your retirement, according to specialists.

The percentage of pre-retirement work income that the government benefits offered (QPP and Old Age Security) can cover for an average worker retiring at age 65.

1 970 610

Name of beneficiaries of the RRQ in 2020.
This is more than twice the number of beneficiaries of the scheme twenty years earlier (935,743 in 2000)

94 667

The number of new RRQ beneficiaries in 2020. This is 46.5% more than in 2000 (64nbsp;638 new beneficiaries)

Percentage of Quebecers aged 60 and over receiving a retirement pension from the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) in 2020.

40 331 $

per year

Average income of people aged 65 and over in Quebec, compared to $49,062 in Ontario (+20%) and $45,888 (+12%) in Canada.

The percentage of retirees in Quebec benefiting from the guaranteed income supplement, reserved for poor retirees.

753,47 $

per month

Maximum monthly benefit from the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), if requested at age 60. It amounts to $1,177.30 if requested at age 65. Note that only 2.9% of new retirees qualified for the maximum pension in 2019.

Average retirement pension from the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) in 2020

The percentage of workers covered by a registered pension plan, as of December 31, 2020.

12,88 G$

Total amount paid as a retirement pension in Quebec (including the additional amount for disability, or MAPI) in 2020.

87,5 G$

The net assets of the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) (basic plan) amounted to $87.5 billion as at December 31, 2020.