Angus Reid survey finds weak public appetite for Alberta's withdrawal
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has already threatened to withdraw Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan and form its own provincial alternative. According to a recent survey of Albertans and Canadians, Smith may want to reconsider the popularity of her decision.
48 per cent of Albertans surveyed say they opposed the idea of forming a provincial pension plan and leaving the CPP. 36 per cent say they support Smith’s proposed provincial plan. 17 per cent said they weren’t sure.
When asked if they thought an exit from the CPP would cost them money or save them money, Albertans fell roughly in line with their support or opposition to the proposal. 48 per cent said it would likely cost them (38 per cent saying it would cost a lot and 10 per cent saying it would cost a little). 37 per cent said it would save them money (15 per cent said it would save a lot, 22 per cent said it would save a little.)
51 per cent of the Albertans surveyed said they expected to be worse off under a provincial plan. 18 per cent said they would break even while 31 per cent predicted they would be better off with a provincial plan. Broken out by gender, Men were relatively evenly split on support for an Alberta Pension Plan while women tended to think the new plan would be a bad deal for them.
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Outside of Alberta, the provinces where respondents offered the most support for an Alberta Pension Plan were Quebec (32 per cent) and Saskatchewan (31 per cent). Quebec has always maintained its own pension plan and is not a part of CPP.
The plurality of Canadians surveyed, however, opposed Alberta’s proposed exit. 47 per cent of respondents nationwide, including Alberta respondents, said they opposed Alberta leaving the CPP. Only 25 per cent said they supported the province forming its own plan.
The survey was conducted in late November. 3,749 Canadian adults were surveyed, and the margin for error was cited as +/- 1.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
