Pension plans in Canada (2013) – Virtually unchanged, but number of members in private sector plans declined 0.2%

Membership in registered pension plans (RPPs) totalled 6,185,000 in 2013, virtually unchanged from 2012.

Membership in public sector pension plans rose 0.2% to 3,184,300, while the number of members in private sector plans declined 0.2% to 3,000,900. The public sector accounted for 51.5% of total membership in RPPs.

Although the participation of women in RPPs decreased by 0.5% from 2012, male and female membership remained fairly equal in 2013 at 3.1 million. Women represented 62.8% of membership in the public sector plans in 2013 and 35.9% in the private sector.

The pension coverage rate, the proportion of all employees covered by an RPP, was 37.9% in 2013, down from 38.5% the year before.

In 2013, almost 4,402,000 employees were in defined benefit pension plans, down 0.5% from 2012. They accounted for 71.2% of employees with an RPP, compared with more than 84% a decade earlier.

Membership in defined contribution plans, the other most common type of plan, increased 0.6% to 1,037,000 in 2013, accounting for 16.8% of all RPP membership. Just over 86% of members in defined contribution plans worked in the private sector.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The Daily — Pension plans in Canada, as of January 1, 2014.