Citing the complexity of pension plans and the need for all provinces and territories to intervene in the matter, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland did not provide a precise timeline for determining the amount Alberta would be entitled to if it decided to follow Canada's Leave the pension plan.
During a meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts on Friday, Ms. Freeland received an update from experts who have been working on the issue in recent months.
In November, she actually asked the chief actuary to calculate what Alberta would be owed if Alberta decided to exit the Canada Pension Plan.
The experts argued during their presentation that they should meet again in January to take stock of the progress of the dossier and everyone agreed that this was a good idea, indicated Ms. Freeland.
Last month, ministers held a special meeting to discuss Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's desire to exit the Canada Pension Plan and create an Alberta-specific plan.
Smith advanced her plan in September by releasing a Lifeworks report that estimated Alberta would be entitled to $334 billion, or 53 per cent, from the Canada Pension Plan if it created its own plan.
Other economists, including those at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, think Alberta's share would be closer to its share of plan participants, about 15 per cent.
To put an end to this debate, Ms. Freeland asked the chief actuary to decide on a figure. But when journalists asked her whether she thought it was necessary to wait until spring or summer to arrive at an estimate, the deputy prime minister declined to comment.
During the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, I learned never to answer hypothetical questions. That's not a good idea for an elected politician, she said.
What I think became very clear in today's conversation is how technical this work is. “We agreed that we will do the work and define the tasks very carefully, very consciously and really transparently,” the minister added.
When asked about the portions of the meeting that focused on pension plans, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said he was pleased that Minister Freeland agreed that the chief actuary should rely on his own legal analysis and not on testimony the federal government.
The decision to move forward with an Alberta-specific pension plan rests with Albertans, he said in a written statement.
On this issue, Ms. Freeland reiterated in her speech that any province or territory can withdraw from the federal pension plan. There is no debate about that, she said.
The example of Quebec
Alberta wants to follow in the footsteps of Quebec, which has its own pension plan, the Quebec Pension Plan.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard, who was present at the meeting, mentioned that Quebec is playing a very interested observer role in what is happening in Alberta. If a province leaves the Canada Pension Plan, there would have to be an agreement with Quebec for workers coming and going from that province, he explained.
Such an agreement already exists between the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan for employees who work in Quebec and elsewhere in the country during their careers.
In addition to the Alberta pension plan, Ms. Freeland and her colleagues discussed housing, inflation and the economy.
Provinces and territories also took the opportunity to share with the Minister of Finance their priorities for the 2024-2025 federal budget.
“I would say there was consensus around increasing infrastructure spending and also further staff redeployments,” Mr Girard said.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem was also in attendance to provide an update on the country's economic outlook.