CANADA: Canadians positive on retirement, but not if forced

TORONTO, Ontario (Globe and Mail), April 28, 2006: Though Canadians are looking forward to retirement, most don't want to be forced to do so, according to a new global survey. However, the study found that while employers find older workers as productive and loyal as younger workers, most lack programs to retain them. "The survey shows that Canadians are overwhelmingly optimistic, with 87 per cent saying they associate retirement with happiness, which is about as positive as you can get," says Marc Cevey, chief executive officer of HSBC Investments Canada Ltd. The parent company, HSBC Holdings PLC, commissioned the global Future of Retirement study of 21,000 employees and human resources officers in 6,000 companies in 20 countries. The study found 56 per cent of Canadians say that they are preparing to bear most of the financial costs of their retirements, compared with an average of 43 per cent in the rest of the world. Employees worldwide are wary of relying solely on the government for support in retirement, with only 21 per cent of respondents believing the current retirement programs are adequate to meet their future financial needs. "Canadian respondents said they want the government to help them help themselves," through enforced private savings and tax reductions, Mr. Cevey said. Globally, 72 per cent of respondents say they are opposed to a mandatory retirement age and should be allowed to go on working to any age as long as they are capable of doing the job. Among Canadians, only 10 per cent said they support retirement at a fixed age, with 49 per cent saying it should be up to individual preference and the rest saying it should be when people are no longer able to work. The study also found a gap between employers' overwhelming support of the value of older workers and their efforts to keep them employed. The survey found 91 per cent of Canadian employers believe older workers are at least as productive as younger workers and 82 per cent say they are just as motivated. However, 38 per cent of Canadian employers reported recruiting older workers is not an urgent issue and another 33 per cent saw no need at all to attract them. By Wallace Immen © Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.