Just 37% of Canadians are currently covered by workplace pension plans and benefit from their superior rate of return. Link’s Multi-Employer Pension Plan (MEPP) turnkey solution harnesses pension power and can help reduce ‘pension envy’.

Canadians contributing to individual RRSPs may not realize the same rate of return of those with employer-sponsored plans. The numbers seem to confirm it and the simple solution can be spelled M-E-P-P.

In a recent National Post article, columnist Jason Heath noted that just 37% of Canadian workers are covered by an employer-sponsored pension plan, according to 2019 Statistics Canada data.

He cited a recent HOOPP study titled The Value of a Good Pension that suggests a Canada-model pension has three times the rate of return of a standard RRSP, adding “pension coverage continues to decline, leaving more workers with a case of pension envy”.

Read more: Multiple employers, multiple benefits: Why MEPPs are better equipped to ease pension plan concerns.

Heath also points out that:

  • Canada’s pension coverage lags well behind G8 counterparts like the U.S., U.K., Germany and Russia
  • Four times as many public-sector employees in Canada have pension plans as those in the private sector
  • Canadians pay some of the highest mutual fund fees in the world, whereas workplace pension plans cost a “fraction” of that


Link Investment Management’s Define Contribution Multi-Employer Pension Plan (MEPP), available to any business in Canada, can help alleviate that pension envy for Canadian workers.

The HOOPP research suggests that retirement security for a typical worker is 4x less expensive in some pension plans.
“We at Link believe MEPPs, like our own, are the future of workplace retirement wellness. Our DC plan eliminates many of the barriers that have traditionally prevented small to midsize businesses from offering pensions to their workforce—and they can help employees achieve better results for retirement.”
says Brian McClennon, President and CEO of Link Investment Management.

While some active fund managers continue to achieve relatively poor performance trying to outperform the market, Link’s experienced portfolio management team harnesses the power of passive funds, which carry far lower management fees.

Advantages of Link’s ALPP include:

  • An investment strategy based on passive Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Target Date Funds, which are simple, low-cost, liquid and, on average have outperformed active management
  • A much lower and transparent fee schedule
  • A proprietary robo-advisor algorithm that tailors portfolios to the individual’s risk tolerance, timing and investment objectives
  • Dollar cost averaging combined with regular portfolio rebalancing

“Through our pension plan solution, Link takes on all the heavy lifting involved including plan administration, compliance, registration and fiduciary liability,” says Mr. McClennon.

“Ultimately, it can help you become an employer of choice , improve the retirement ‘bang-for-the-buck’ for your employees and eliminate Canadian pension envy.”

On Oct 31st 2019, Link’s CEO Brian McClennon hosted a webinar as part of the CPBI’s national webinar series to explain the benefits of Multi-Employer Pension plans titled New Multi-Employer Plan Structures and Technology – Improving the Attractiveness of DC Plans for Employers and Employees. If you are a CPBI member, you can register for the webinar to receive a recording of the presentation.

REGISTER NOW for the recording


Read more: Restore the luster to those golden years with Link’s pension plan solution..

Read more: Challenging the status quo: Comparing MEPPs and group RRSPs.

Read more: Multiple employers, multiple benefits: Why MEPPs are better equipped to ease pension plan concerns.

Read more: Simplifying, optimizing and standardizing: How technology is empowering DC Multi-Employer Pension Plans.