This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information. 


Survey says most Canadians don't plan to retire

38% will work out of financial necessity while 5% are waiting to win a lottery.

Ottawa (6 Jan. 2011) - More than 70% of Canadians will continue to work after retirement, says a survey conducted by Harris/Decima.

Those polled cited varying reasons for staying in the workforce, including more than a third who said they would simply need the money.

A significant majority of 72% said one of their main goals in continuing to work would be to remain mentally active while 57% wanted to ensure they were socially active. A total of 38% of all those surveyed said they would go on working out of financial necessity while 5% said they were counting on a lottery win to look after them in their old age.

Among those who planned to retire fully, 15% said they had been saving for 15 years. More than half of this group said they had saved less than $20,000 in the past five years.

The poll, commissioned by Scotiabank, consisted of 1,011 online surveys completed between Oct. 14 and 25. The results were then weighted by region, age and gender.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE