TORONTO - Ottawa will upset most Canadians in its efforts to reform Old-Age Security, specifically raising the age of eligibility for support to 67, results of an exclusive poll for Global News indicate.
Three-quarters of Canadians – or 74 per cent – say they oppose reforming old-age security in this way with half of the population insisting they “strongly oppose” the contentious measure, according to an Ipsos Reid study for Global News and Postmedia News.
One quarter of respondents said they “somewhat opposed.”
Only 26 per cent of Canadians felt they supported the government’s idea.
Results showed that an astounding amount of women – 81 per cent – were against the idea of raising OAS eligibility while 19 per cent said they supported the idea.
About one in three Canadian men favoured potential reforms.
Middle-aged Canadians on their way to retirement, between 35 and 54 years old, were most likely to oppose looming changes to OAS eligibility.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that he would take “necessary” steps to limit the cost of the retirement income system. The comments ignited a firestorm of opposition from seniors’ advocacy groups and opposition MPs.
Harper promised not to touch the Canadian Pension Plan, leaving Old Age Security vulnerable to changes.
While the specific details into changes that would be phased in over a decade have not been revealed, speculation in Ottawa is the government would push back the qualifying age for the benefit from 65 to 67.
Regions also varied in their opposition to the proposals with Atlantic Canada (86 per cent) leading the country in its resistance to changes followed by Saskatchewan (76) and Manitoba (76).
About 75 per cent of respondents in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia opposed any changes.
Albertans were most inclined to support the idea, with 42 per cent suggesting they’d support OAS eligibility changes.
Between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, 1,002 Canadian adults were interviewed online for the Ipsos Reid survey, which was weighted to bring it into line with Canadian demographics.
Nationally, it has a margin of error of three percentage points, 19 times out of 20, but the margin of error is higher for specific regions of the country.
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