Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling she's willing to abandon her proposal to create a provincial pension plan if a meeting on Monday leads to a deal on improvements to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The federal and provincial ministers of finance are set to meet in Vancouver on expanding CPP contributions and payouts, with negotiations happening behind the scenes this weekend. A deal requires the consent of seven of the 10 provinces with two-thirds of Canada's population. If an agreement emerges, the Wynne government will put a halt to the looming Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP), senior officials tell CBC News. In an interview on CBC's Power and Politics, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said his government wants to see "an enhanced CPP that's timely, that's adequate, that provides a sufficient amount of supports in the long run."

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa (right) and Premier Kathleen Wynne (left) are signalling the province will abandon its provincial pension plan if improvements are made to the Canada Pension Plan. (Photo: Getty Images) "If that is able to be achieved this weekend, we will proceed with CPP enhancement as opposed to the Ontario pension plan," Sousa told host Rosemary Barton. The push to boost pension contributions stems from concern that too many Canadians aren't saving enough for a comfortable retirement, with the modern labour environment of casual and contract work providing too few employees with workplace pensions. With the Harper government reluctant to boost CPP, Wynne made the creation of a new provincial pension plan a key plank in her victorious 2014 election campaign. It would cover some three million Ontarians who don't have a workplace pension. In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, host Chris Hall asked Wynne why she's now willing to abandon the plan.

Kathleen Wynne said she's "more optimistic" about the chances for a CPP deal than a few weeks ago. (Photo: CP) "I've always said my first choice is to have a CPP enhancement," Wynne said. "What's changing is that it looks like there's more of a possibility that we might get agreement across the country." The Ontario provincial pension plan would create a maximum annual pension of $12,849 for a worker who pays into the plan for 40 years. Wynne has indicated she's willing to accept a deal that boosts CPP pension benefits to about two-thirds what her government is proposing under the Ontario plan Wynne described herself as "more optimistic" about the chances for a deal than she was just a few weeks ago. "There are a number of premiers across the country who would like to see movement," Wynne said. "There's more potential for some success. I'm excited about it, but I will not bet on what the outcome will be."