Statistics Canada
www.statcan.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds)
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Related subjects
The value of retirement savings of 4.9 million Canadian workers with employer-sponsored pension funds amounted to $936.5 billion at the end of the second quarter, down 0.7% from the first quarter. This was the first decline in the value of pension funds assets since the first quarter of 2009.
At the end of June, the market value of stocks amounted to $300.3 billion, a 5.5% decline from the two-year high of $317.8 billion reached in the first quarter.
The market value of pension fund investments in bonds rose 5.4% to a high of $352.2 billion in the second quarter. Foreign bonds increased in value 15.4%, while investments in domestic bonds grew 4.6%.
The share of pension fund assets held in bonds was 37.6% (+2.2%), while the proportion in stocks was 32.1% (-1.6%).
Pension fund revenues remained stable at $24.3 billion in the second quarter. Increases in pension contributions and investment income offset the reduced profits from the sale of securities.
Expenditures increased to $17.2 billion, principally as a result of an increase in losses on the sale of securities, an indication of ongoing market volatility. Net income posted a second consecutive decline, falling from $12.2 billion in the first quarter to $7.1 billion in the second quarter.
Just over 6.0 million Canadian workers are members of employer pension plans. Of this group, 4.9 million workers are members of trusteed plans. The remaining 1.1 million members with employer pension plans are in plans managed principally by insurance company contracts. Data in this release refer only to trusteed plans and their pension funds.
Available on CANSIM: tables 280-0002 to 280-0004.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2607.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-888-297-7355; 613-951-7355; income@statcan.gc.ca), Income Statistics Division.
Table 1
| Second quarter 2009r | First quarter 2010p | Second quarter 2010p | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ millions | % of total assets | $ millions | % of total assets | $ millions | % of total assets | |
| Total assets | 844,654 | 100.0 | 943,377 | 100.0 | 936,481 | 100.0 |
| Bonds | 305,732 | 36.2 | 334,047 | 35.4 | 352,234 | 37.6 |
| Stocks | 278,394 | 33.0 | 317,779 | 33.7 | 300,338 | 32.1 |
| Mortgages | 13,720 | 1.6 | 13,828 | 1.5 | 12,417 | 1.3 |
| Real estate | 70,606 | 8.4 | 72,441 | 7.7 | 74,165 | 7.9 |
| Short-term | 30,869 | 3.7 | 34,599 | 3.7 | 33,444 | 3.6 |
| Other assets | 140,743 | 16.7 | 165,487 | 17.5 | 158,732 | 16.9 |
| Assets, funds under $10 million | 4,590 | 0.5 | 5,195 | 0.6 | 5,151 | 0.6 |
Table 2
| First quarter 2010p | Second quarter 2010p | First quarter to second quarter 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $ millions | % change | ||
| Total revenue | 24,517 | 24,339 | -0.7 |
| Revenue from contributions | 9,588 | 11,061 | 15.4 |
| Investment income | 6,643 | 9,199 | 38.5 |
| Net profit on sale of securities | 7,887 | 3,574 | -54.7 |
| Miscellaneous revenue | 162 | 248 | 52.9 |
| Revenue, funds under $10 million | 237 | 256 | 8.1 |
| Total expenditures | 12,357 | 17,201 | 39.2 |
| Pension payments out of funds | 9,727 | 10,226 | 5.1 |
| Cost of pensions purchased | 44 | 45 | 3.0 |
| Cash withdrawals | 804 | 940 | 16.9 |
| Administration costs | 767 | 736 | -4.1 |
| Net loss on sale of securities | 427 | 4,491 | 952.7 |
| Other expenditures | 430 | 585 | 36.0 |
| Expenditures, funds under $10 million | 158 | 179 | 13.0 |
