The effort to create a supplemental pension plan in Ontario cost the province C$70 million ($53.3 million), the Ontario Finance Ministry disclosed.
The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan was to have been a supplement to the C$278.9 billion Canada Pension Plan, Ottawa, but the plan is being scuttled after an agreement reached in June among Canada’s finance ministry and provincial finance ministers to create a national enhancement to the CPP. All provincial legislatures have approved the plan except British Columbia, which is expected to sign off later this year.
The largest expense — C$30 million — was in operating the ORPP Administration Corp., according to the website of Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa. Of that, C$6 million went to staff compensation and the remainder went to procurement of financial and systems management, as well as legal and other services.
Among other costs, C$25 million was spent on initial development of the ORPP in 2013 — C$10 million in staff compensation, C$8 million in public education and research and C$7 million in procurement costs.
Also included in the finance ministry disclosure is an additional C$15 million in expected costs to wind down the ORPP Administration Corp.
Efforts to create the ORPP began after an earlier attempt to enhance the CPP in 2013 failed and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mr. Sousa pledged to create a provincial supplement.
