Canada’s pension system moved up from 13th to 12th in consulting firm Mercer’s annual ranking, which analyzed 47 pension systems worldwide.
At the top of the ranking published on Wednesday is the Netherlands, followed by Iceland, which had previously been at the top for two years in a row, and Denmark. The three countries received an A rating and overall scores of 85, 83.5 and 81.3, respectively.
Canada retained its B rating, but its score fell slightly from 70.6 to 70.2 in 2023. The country is now in 12th place.
“Canada’s pension system continues to be highly regarded globally […]. However, an environment characterized by inflationary pressures, high interest rates, labor shortages, an aging population and some signs of recession pose risks to employers, employees and the long-term effectiveness of our pension and health systems like never before,” said F. Hubert Tremblay, Partnership member and senior advisor in Mercer Canada’s Assets practice.
According to the company, increasing the number of workers benefiting from a pension plan, increasing household savings and reducing household debt could enable the pension system in Canada to be strengthened.
According to Mercer’s analysis, which compared the sufficiency, sustainability and integrity of different pension systems, Argentina scored the lowest (D rating; 42.3).
For comparison, the United Kingdom is in 10th place (B rating; 73), the United States is in 22nd place (C+ rating; 63), France is in 25th place (C+; 61.7), Japan ranked 31st (C rating; 56.3) and South Africa 38th (C rating; 54).