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The introduction of Ontario’s Registered Pension Plan (ORPP) will lead to more layoffs and wage freezes in the province’s already beleaguered manufacturing sector, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters group has warned.

The CME, which represents manufacturers who account for 750,000 jobs in Ontario, said a survey of its members indicated that as many as 35 per cent of Ontario’s manufacturers will lay off staff to cope to with additional costs associated with the ORPP.

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About 68 per cent of Ontario manufacturers said in the survey they would eliminate wage increases or bonuses to pay for those additional costs.

The provincial pension will add $2,149 a year in costs to each manufacturing sector job, which will be split evenly between the employer and the employee.

Despite the government’s reassurances that businesses with existing pension plans can request an exemption from the upcoming ORPP, the manufacturers’ study suggested that less than nine per cent of existing pension plans will actually qualify for the exemption.