Invest fairly in all generations: news & insights

Alberta's 2025 budget commits to big spending on medical care. The wasteful deficit-spending is made worse by an income tax cut, which constrains investment in younger residents, including for housing and protecting the planet’s health. The overall fiscal pattern in Alberta reveals a startling degree of ageism toward younger residents.

How it is that we’ve so wildly underestimated Canadians’ willingness to take responsibility for paying for our pollution? Check out the surprising results from our latest poll.

We must recognize the relative privilege that owning a home provides to our personal finances, and acknowledging that this privilege implies obligations. The obligation may be to expect less, or pay more.

Old Age Security plays a big role in driving federal deficits. Canada will not restore fiscal guardrails until our national leaders grapple with this challenge. The most effective, least painful path to reduce deficits starts with reining in OAS spending, allocating it more wisely to eliminate seniors’ poverty and support younger Canadians.

Old Age Security (OAS) rules incentivize affluent Canadian retirees to squeeze out every last drop of government assistance, even when they have no need for cash subsidies. Financial advisers aren’t the problem. Nor are individuals . The problem is the policy incentives that invite people to game the OAS system.

New global, national and provincial commitments make 2024 a stand-out year for generational fairness. This Global Intergenerational Fairness Day, young and old Canadians alike should take pride in the progress we’ve made. Join us in marking the day on November 16.

The typical 35-year-old Canadian now pays approximately 20-per-cent to 40-per-cent more for boomers’ healthy retirements than boomers paid as young people to support seniors in their day. This extra tax burden will only get heavier in the years ahead as Ottawa enacts planned increases for Old Age Security (OAS) and the Canada Health Transfer.

The Bloc Québécois wants to add billions to Old Age Security for rich and poor seniors alike but a new poll suggests most Canadians, including retirees, have other priorities. Canadians want Ottawa to redesign OAS so that it reduces spending on affluent retirees and repurposes the savings to eliminate poverty among seniors, help younger generations and reduce the deficit.

Rejecting an additional $16 billion in poorly targeted and costly retiree income benefits is a big victory, and we should be proud of our contribution to it. But even as we celebrate this accomplishment, we can’t let up on next steps.