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Before embarking on a controversial expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, the Canadian government should consider Australia’s successful experience closing gaps in retirement savings through mandatory workplace pensions, according to the authors of a paper published Tuesday by the Fraser Institute.

“The Australian model seems to show that there are options to expand pension coverage and increase retirement savings apart from raising the CPP,” according to authors Sean Speer and Jason Clemens.

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Canada’s finance ministers will be meeting this month to discuss whether there is consensus to move ahead with expansion of the Canada Pension Plan. Amending the national pension scheme requires support from the federal government as well as two-thirds of the provinces representing two-thirds of the population.

But Mr. Speer and Mr. Clements are urging politicians to look at the Australian overhaul that began in the 1990s. Australia, which shares many cultural and socio-economic characteristics with Canada, introduced compulsory employment-based retirement savings accounts. The authors say the compulsory savings accounts — which cover about 90% of the country’s workforce and come with mandatory employer contributions and preferential tax treatment — have boosted national savings by the equivalent of 1.5% of Australia’s gross domestic product.