China plans to raise retirement age. Could it happen in Canada?

globalnews.ca:

China is the latest in a slew of countries planning to gradually raise the statutory retirement age as an aging world population is forcing governments to reform their pension plans.

Delaying retirement also “makes sense” and could have “a lot of benefits” in other countries, including Canada as the country grapples with labour shortages and a record low fertility rate, experts say. But could it happen?

There is no mandated retirement age in Canada, but the standard age to start receiving public pensions is 65, according to the federal government.

Canadian seniors can also start receiving the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement pension as early as age 60 or as late as age 70. This is a monthly, taxable benefit that replaces part of the person’s income when they retire and those who qualify for it receive it for the rest of their life.

Another type of public pension is the Old Age Security (OAS), which is a monthly payment if you are 65 and older.

However, with Canada’s population aging “very rapidly” due to a record low birth rate, it “makes sense” from a demographic and economic perspective to raise the retirement age, said Don Kerr, a demographer at King’s University College at Western University in London, Ont.

“As a society, we have to recognize that if we don’t want to have kids and if our population is changing rapidly, we have to accommodate that population aging and this would be one way in doing so,” Kerr told Global News in an interview.

Politically, however, it might be a “very hard sell,” he added.

The previous Conservative government under then-prime minister Stephen Harper had raised the age of eligibility for Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) from 65 to 67.

That policy change