Business
Canada’s chief actuary fails to estimate Alberta’s share of CPP assets
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
Each Albertan would save up to $2,850 in 2027—the first year of the hypothetical Alberta plan—while retaining the same benefits as the CPP. Meanwhile, the basic CPP contribution rate for the rest of Canada would increase to 10.36 per cent.
Despite a new report from Canada’s chief actuary about Alberta’s potential plan to leave the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and start its own separate provincial pension plan, Albertans still don’t have an official estimate from Ottawa about Alberta’s share of CPP assets.
The actuary analyzed how the division of assets might be calculated, but did not provide specific numbers.
Yet according to a report commissioned by the Smith government and released last year, Alberta’s share of CPP assets totalled an estimated $334 billion—more than half the value of total CPP assets. Based on that number, if Alberta left the CPP, Albertans would pay a contribution rate of 5.91 per cent for a new CPP-like provincial program (a significant reduction from the current 9.9 per cent CPP rate deducted from their paycheques). As a result, each Albertan would save up to $2,850 in 2027—the first year of the hypothetical Alberta plan—while retaining the same benefits as the CPP. Meanwhile, the basic CPP contribution rate for the rest of Canada would increase to 10.36 per cent.
Why would Albertans pay less under a provincial plan?
Because Alberta has a comparatively younger population (i.e. more workers vs. retirees), higher average incomes and higher levels of employment (i.e. higher level of premiums paid into the fund). As such, Albertans collectively pay significantly more into the CPP than retirees in Alberta receive in benefits. Simply put, under a provincial plan, Albertans would pay less and receive the same benefits.
Some critics, however, dispute the estimated share of Alberta’s CPP assets (again, $334 billion—more than half the value of total CPP assets) in the Smith government’s report, and claim the estimate understates the report’s contribution rate for a new Alberta pension plan and overestimates the new CPP rate without Alberta.
Which takes us back to the new report from Canada’s chief actuary, which was supposed to provide its own estimate of Alberta’s share of the assets. Unfortunately, it did not.
But there are other rate estimates out there, based on various assumptions. According to a 2019 analysis published by the Fraser Institute, the contribution rate for a new separate CPP-like program in Alberta could be as low as 5.85 per cent, while AIMCo’s 2019 estimate was 7.21 per cent (and possibly as low as 6.85 per cent). And University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe has pegged Alberta’s hypothetical rate at 8.2 per cent.
While the actuary in Ottawa failed to provide any numbers, one thing’s for certain—according to the available estimates, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate in a separate provincial pension plan while CPP contributions for the rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) would likely increase.
From LifeSiteNews
Trump said in his first cabinet meeting that his administration will soon begin placing tariffs on products from the countries of the EU, accusing the European Union of cheating the US.
President Donald Trump blasted the European Union during the first cabinet meeting of his new administration, saying that “The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it.”
“I love the countries of Europe,” Trump began, “but the European Union was formed to screw the United States.”
“Let’s be honest. The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States,” he reemphasized. “That’s the purpose of it.”
“And they’ve done a good job of it,” he said, before warning: “But now I’m president.”
Trump said that his administration will soon begin placing tariffs on the products of the countries of the EU.
Asked if he expected the EU to retaliate if the U.S. imposes stiff tariffs, Trump said: “They can’t. I mean they can try, but they can’t.”
“We are the pot of gold,” he explained. “We’re the one that everybody wants, and they can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation, because we just go cold turkey, we don’t buy any more, and if that happens, we win.”
From the LifeSiteNews
The work of DOGE is ‘not an optional thing. It is an essential thing,’ Elon Musk said. ‘If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt.’
At the Trump administration’s first cabinet meeting, Elon Musk said that he’s “taking a lot of flak” for his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), adding, “I’m getting a lot of death threats.”
“We simply can’t sustain as a country a two trillion-dollar deficit,” said Musk, explaining why the work of DOGE is so important to the functioning of the country.
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Only DOGE can save the US from bankruptcy
Musk said that the work of DOGE is “not an optional thing. It is an essential thing.”
“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” he emphasized. “That’s why it has to be done.”
“I’m confident at this point … that we can find a trillion dollars in savings,” he said. “That would be roughly 15 percent of the seven trillion-dollar budget.”
“And obviously that can only be done with the support of everyone in this room,” he said to the cabinet secretaries. “And I would like to thank everyone for your support.”
“DOGE is a support function for the president and for the agencies departments to help achieve those savings and to effectively find 15 percent reduction in fraud and waste,” he explained.
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