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Understanding the Gender Pension Gap in Canada
By Elizabeth Shilton
The gender pension gap in Canada measures the gender difference in combined income from Canada’s 3-pillar system of retirement income instruments: Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canada Pension Plan/
Quebec Pension Plan and private pensions (including RRSP/RRIF income). In 1976 – the first year for which we have meaningful statistics – that gap stood at 15%, and it has stubbornly refused to close despite substantial increases in overall retirement income and massive advances in women’s labour market engagement and earnings since that date. It currently stands at about 17%, which means that for every dollar of retirement income men receive, women get only 83 cents. This report examines the roots of the gender pension gap, providing a detailed look at how Canada’s retirement income instruments operate to convert gender wage gaps and gendered hours of paid work into lower pensions for women. The report identifies two primary obstacles to closing the gap: Canada’s increasing reliance on private pensions, the most gender-unequal pillar in the 3-pillar system, and women’s unequal share of unpaid family care work, which impedes their capacity to increase their share of paid work.
Get the report here
