Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Shirley-Ann George and I am the senior vice-president of policy for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. With me today is Sue Reibel, senior vice-president and general manager of the Canadian group retirement solutions for Manulife Financial.
Thank you for inviting us to appear. This is a hearing that matters. This hearing and the study you've undertaken will impact millions of Canadians. We commend you and your committee for undertaking this study.
As you know, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is Canada's most representative business association. With a network of more than 340 chambers of commerce and boards of trade, as well as corporate members, we speak for approximately 175,000 members.
Given the scope of businesses we represent, each topic included in the committee's study on Canadian retirement income security is of interest to our members. However, due to time restrictions and other presentations you have already heard, our presentation will focus only on the third pillar of retirement savings, that is, workplace pensions and RRSPs.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce believes that Canada's current overall retirement savings system is sound. Legislators and policy-makers need to focus on improvements in the gap areas, rather than fundamental changes.
It is estimated that up to 50% of private sector employees have no workplace retirement savings plans. It is no surprise that much of the current discussion on the retirement savings issue has focused on ensuring that private sector employees have more access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans. There is a growing appetite to give the private sector more retirement savings options. This approach was voiced last week by Alberta's finance minister at the national retirement income summit in Calgary and is shared by some of his counterparts.
Canadian businesses need the flexibility to choose retirement savings solutions that fit their businesses' sizes and resources. At the same time, Canadians' retirement savings and income needs vary significantly. We recommend that the federal, provincial, and territorial governments consider a balanced and competitive approach to retirement savings that includes more private sector options for businesses and employees.
Most small and medium-sized businesses have limited or no resources to support offering retirement savings plans. This means that policy and regulatory changes should focus on improving defined contribution pensions and group RRSPs to make them less costly and easier for small and medium-sized businesses to offer.
Ms. Reibel will outline specific improvements that could be made to the existing framework for employer-sponsored retirement savings plans to give more businesses the tools to help their employees save for their retirements. All levels of government need to work together, and with private sector providers, to make it happen. Doing so has the potential to benefit millions of Canadians who have either no or insufficient retirement savings.
I will now turn to Ms. Reibel.