You're absolutely right. The labour force participation of seniors has increased pretty dramatically over the past decades, moving from 15.6% in 1976 up to 26.2% in 2016, for the 65- to 69-year-old population. That's not quite a doubling, but close to it, in that period. The government has put in place a number of measures related to both supporting their participation in the labour force and, in terms of income security, supporting their continued participation.
For example, we have programs to support retraining and to upgrade skills development, which support moving into new positions and keeping up with technology. Budget 2017 announced the creation of the workforce development agreements, which combine some other programs into one simpler, more strategic, flexible program, with an additional $900 million over six years. This isn't dedicated just to seniors. It's dedicated to a number of populations, but the program has been consolidated, and funding has been added to it.
At the same time, within the pensions program, for the purposes of old age security, Canadians can defer taking their old age security pension at 65, up to and including age 70. For each month they defer, they get a higher permanent benefit. If a Canadian is working until 67 and doesn't want to take their old age security, they don't have to, and then they can take a higher benefit later.
The same is true with the Canada Pension Plan. People can defer receipt of their pension if they want to for a higher amount. That said, within the Canada Pension Plan, there is no work-cessation test anymore, so Canadians can both work and collect their CPP at the same time if they need to reduce their work hours but still need support from a pension plan. That's flexibility that's been provided.
Also, with respect to the income-tested portion of the old age security program, we have the guaranteed income supplement. There is an exemption for the first $3,500 of employment income, which doesn't reduce your GIS benefit at all, so it allows Canadians to work and retain more of those funds.
The final thing I'll mention is that, with respect to the Canada Pension Plan, for Canadians who remain in the labour force but take their pension—so let's say they retire and take their pension at 65 but continue to work—they can continue to build what we call a post-retirement benefit. So for every year they work up to age 70, they can get another 1/40 of their pension added to their CPP, and that is cumulative for each year they work, and it's indexed for life.