С 2026 года в пенсионных планах Британской Колумбии введут автоматическое увеличение взносов

The inclusion of automatic escalation in British Columbia-based defined contribution pension plans can support employees’ retirement readiness by increasing contributions and removing psychological barriers to saving, says Barbara Sanders, an associate professor of statistics and actuarial science at Simon Fraser University and co-lead of the Pension Centre of Excellence at Toronto Metropolitan University’s National Institute on Ageing. “Adding the ability to automatically increase contributions . . . is known to be a very effective approach for improving retirement savings adequacy. We have lots of evidence from the U.S. [and] from an academic perspective, this is a much needed and well supported evidence-based solution.” Read: B.C. amending pension legislation, including auto-escalation for DC plans Effective Oct. 30, 2026, auto-escalation will be introduced to B.C.-based DC plans and members will have the option to opt out of the feature. A recent report by the NIA found there are several barriers to retirement readiness. These include a present bias that keeps plan members focused on their immediate financial needs instead of future goals; optimism bias, in which people are unconsciously or consciously being overly optimistic and underestimate future expenses in retirement; and ‘anchoring,’ in which plan members focus on achieving a set amount of savings and don’t deviate from a set course. “Anchoring to [a set amount of savings] really makes it difficult and if there are other barriers to taking the right action, like increasing your contributions, it becomes even more difficult,” says Sanders. “[Auto features] are powerful and they still give plan members flexibility.” Auto-escalation is particularly important for supporting young employees’ savings goals. “They have many demands on their paycheques [such as] current living expenses versus saving for retirement. I think it’s particularly difficult for today’s young people [to save] so this is an important feature to provide. It’s also important for plan sponsors to properly communicate to plan members about how auto-escalation will impact their contributions, she says. “If [plan sponsors] take the opportunity to explain to people why it’s important and what the difference in retirement income might be, that may be a reason for them not to opt out. Again, we’re seeing present bias, optimism bias and anchoring working against people’s best judgments in some ways.”