Earlier this week, the federal government made the smart move of abolishing mandatory retirement for employees in federally regulated industries/organizations. Where the employer had been able to force people to retire at 65 or even 60 in some cases, they have now lost that power. With people living longer, healthier lives, and with 1/3 of Canadians aged 55+ still having at least 16 years of mortgage payments left owing, the idea of freedom at 65 will not be attainable or realistic for many. For those reasons alone, this is a good move by the Feds, ignoring the discrimination of forcing people to leave their jobs when they reach an arbitrary "expiration date," regardless of their abilities.
There's been talk that this is the beginning of a tightening of retirement rules to being to deal with the coming Boomer surge and the pressure it will put on our public retirement schemes. If this is true, it's great news. Our pension plans are in good shape now, but without tweaking, they will be in the same mess as much of the rest of the world's. I hope the government continues down this path and investigates increasing the age you receive Old Age Security and CPP from 65 to at least 66 or even 67 and instituting means testing for OAS. Taking steps like these may be just what's needed to ensure there is something left of these cornerstone programs for the next generation.
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