The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) was the subject of a May 21 meeting here organized by Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece. The meeting focused on the provincial government’s plan to impose a new payroll tax of 1.9 percent to fund the plan, states a press release from Pettapiece’s office.
“[The ORPP] has caused tremors in the business community,” observed MPP Vic Fedeli, who spoke at the event. “Magna has told us they would never open another plant in Ontario [due to the ORPP].”
To back up his concerns, Fedeli cited the government’s own estimates, which he says show that every $6 billion the ORPP payroll tax collects will translate into about 54,000 lost jobs.
Associate finance minister Mitze Hunter has stated the introduction of the ORPP on Jan. 1, 2017 coincides with an expected reduction in Employment Insurance premiums by the federal government.
Attendees also raised concerns about the impact on non-profit organizations including charities, churches, religious organizations and community organizations such as curling clubs.
“They, too, will have no choice but to be part of the ORPP,” the release states.
Nigel Howard, outgoing chair of the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce, raised concerns about the ORPP’s impact on local small businesses.
“Businesses have told us they will have to stop hiring or reduce benefits when the ORPP comes into effect,” said Howard. “A lot of people are just breaking even as it is.” Businesses with five or fewer employees, he noted, make up 85 percent of the chamber’s membership.
Under the ORPP, the provincial government will require employers to match employee contributions of up to 1.9-percent of earnings. Employers that provide defined benefit pension plans will be exempt from these contributions, but the release states “the majority of employers will still have to pay into the ORPP, regardless of the retirement savings plans they already provide.”
Pettapiece is asking both employers and employees to send him their views, which he plans to deliver to the associate minister of finance.
Pettapeice hosted a meeting on the same topic on May 25 in Mount Forest.
