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While policymakers in Ottawa and the provinces continue to offer up new tools to push Canadians to better prepare for retirement, workers are still failing to take advantage of hundred of millions of dollars of “free money” for retirement being offered up by the country’s employers.

Sun Life Financial Inc. estimates that Canadians are turning their back on as much as $3-billion that could go into their retirement coffers if they took full advantage of corporate pension plans and their contribution-matching programs.

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“It’s kind of a staggering number,” said Tom Reid, senior vice-president of group retirement services at Sun Life Financial.

I don’t think some [people] even know they’re leaving money on the table

Many company defined-contribution pension plans top up employee contributions as they roll in with matching funds. The employee makes a contribution, and the company matches it, often up to between 3% and 6% of earnings. If there’s no contribution, however, there’s no bonus match, while a partial contribution only yields a partial match.