CFIB’s response to the Ontario government’s announcement on ORPP cost

The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) was one of the most ill-advised and damaging public policy proposals in Ontario’s history. It was extremely disappointing that the provincial government decided to move forward with it, and CFIB lobbied very hard against its implementation on behalf of our 42,000 small- and medium-sized business members in Ontario.

After pressing other provinces to sign an agreement in principle to hike Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payroll taxes, Ontario is now winding down the ORPP, which has already racked up massive costs. Spending $70 million on a pension scheme that never saw the light of day – and would have likely failed if implemented – is a colossal waste of tax money that could have been invested in priority areas.

We are looking forward to the Auditor General’s review of the government’s total spending on the ORPP, and are confident that her report will include not only the costs of the ORPP Administration Corporation, but also the expenditures of the entire program, including initial planning and advertising costs.

-Plamen Petkov, CFIB Vice-President, Ontario