News & Insights

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.

New poll finds that about 3/4 of Canadians support reducing benefits for retirees with incomes over $100k, in order to make funds available for a win-win-win plan to eliminate seniors’ poverty, invest in younger people, and reduce the deficit.

Ottawa may add billions to Old Age Security for rich and poor seniors alike – an increase that would be funded disproportionately by younger Canadians. Instead, Generation Squeeze believes OAS reform can deliver real help for retirees with low incomes and affluent boomers can play a big role.

If the Bloc gets its way, younger Canadians will be on the hook to pay even more taxes for boomers’ OAS benefits. This would compound the unpaid bills they already inherit because governments failed decades ago to raise enough revenue to pay for the healthy retirement that boomers deserve.

This week, the United Nations enacted the Declaration on Future Generations, which obliges all nations to govern as Good Ancestors. To support its implementation here at home, Generation Squeeze prepared Canada’s first-ever Report Card on our federal government’s 2024 budget commitment to "Fairness for Every Generation."