3 Reasons Why Canada Needs OAS Reform
To eliminate seniors poverty
Despite costing more than any other federal program, OAS leaves 400,000 seniors in poverty. Too much of the OAS budget goes to retirees with household incomes above $100,000 — and not enough to those facing financial risks. With uncertainty and living costs on the rise, we can no longer afford this inefficient spending.
To make transformative investments to improve affordability — without raising taxes or growing the deficit
By trimming OAS subsidies only for retirees with six-figure incomes, we could unlock enough savings to lift all seniors out of poverty and help young and working-age people afford the basics. That’s an intergenerational win-win.
To begin remedying our longstanding failure to adapt to predictable demographic changes
Canada’s population is aging and living longer — demographic realities our revenue systems weren’t designed to cope with. The result of governments’ failure to prepare for these long-expected pressures is a growing gap between the contributions seniors made in their working years, and the cost of the services they now expect to use in retirement.
