Canada's 18,594 employer-sponsored registered pension plans gained 77,700 new members in 2006, growing 1.4% over their 2005 membership, according to Statistics Canada. The gain, which came as enrolment by men fell by 4,500, took total membership to 5.8 million in 2006.

In 2005, RPPs added only about 20,000 people, a pace substantially slower than annual gains recorded since the turn of the millennium, Statistics Canada reported.

Gains in 2006 were distributed evenly between the public sector, which added 39,400 members, and the private sector, which added 38,300. The public sector accounts for less than 10% of all registered pension plans. Most levels of government in the public sector added members during the period, Statistics Canada said.

RPP membership growth has been far slower than the rate of growth of paid workers as measured by Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, resulting in a continuous decline in the proportion of paid workers with an RPP.

In 2006, 38.1% of paid workers had registered pension plans compared to 38.5% in 2005.

Of the 5.8 million RPP members, 2.8 million or 48.5% were women, while 3.0 million or 51.5% were men. In 2000, women accounted for 45.1%, while men accounted for 54.9%.

Increases for women were shared between the public and private sectors, Statistics Canada said.

By Sean McKibbon, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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