Report finds Alberta’s $53.6 billion net contribution to CPP far exceeds other provinces

Albertans have contributed significantly more to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) than they have received in benefit s— over six times as much as any other province — according to a new report from the Fraser Institute.

From 1981 to 2022, Alberta's net contribution totaled $53.6 billion.

The report highlights that Alberta workers, on average, paid 14.4% of total CPP premiums while retirees in the province received only 10.0% of the payments.

The only other province to contribute more than it received was British Columbia, but Alberta’s contribution was six times higher.

"Albertan workers have been helping to fund the retirement of Canadians from coast to coast for decades, and Canadians ought to know that without Alberta, the Canada Pension Plan would look much different," said Tegan Hill, director of Alberta policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report.

The study attributes Alberta’s outsized contributions to its high employment rates, higher-than-average incomes, and younger population. It also suggests that if Alberta were to withdraw from the CPP, workers in the province could receive the same retirement benefits at a lower cost, while the rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) might face higher payroll taxes to sustain the program.

"Given current demographic projections, immigration patterns, and Alberta's long history of leading the provinces in economic growth, Albertan workers will likely continue to pay more into it than Albertan retirees get back from it," Hill added.