Annual Report of the Canada Pension Plan 2001-2002
2000-2001 The Year at a Glance
In fiscal 2001-2002:
- The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is on a sound financial footing according to the Eighteenth Actuarial Report, tabled in Parliament in December 2001. The Report, which provides an actuarial examination of the Plan as at December 31, 2000, confirms that the 1997 federal-provincial CPP Agreement has put Plan finances back on track.
- Canadians received more than 4.2 million benefits with a total value of approximately $20.5 billion from the Canada Pension Plan.
- Eleven million people contributed to the CPP.
- 12.9 million people received Statements of Contributions.
- Administrative costs amounted to approximately $371 million, or 1.8 percent of the $20.5 billion in benefits paid. This compares favourably with administrative costs for other large pension plans and individual RRSPs.
- 2.8 million people received $14.3 billion in CPP retirement pensions.
- 890,783 surviving spouses or common-law partners and 86,956 children of deceased contributors received over $3.1 billion in benefits.
- About 279,000 persons with disabilities and 90,656 of their children received almost $2.9 billion in CPP disability benefits.
- On March 31, 2002, total CPP assets were valued at approximately $51.9 billion and equalled 2.5 years of benefits. The assets were held in provincial, territorial and federal government bonds, short-term investments, and domestic and foreign equities.
- Changes to the Canada Pension Plan Regulations were implemented on January 1, 2002 to reflect the scheduled increase in the annual contribution rate to 9.4 percent and the statutory increase in maximum pensionable earnings. The last scheduled contribution rate increase, to 9.9 percent in 2003, will occur on January 1, 2003, and will fully implement the 1997 reforms agreed to by federal and provincial governments.