TORONTO — Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy is asking federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to convene a meeting to discuss Alberta’s proposal to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan, saying the move could cause “serious harm.”

Bethlenfalvy has written to Freeland to ask for a federal-provincial-territorial meeting of finance ministers and is calling for a “rigorous analysis” of the assumptions Alberta is using to justify its plan.

He says that when people across the country are facing increasing pressures on household budgets, they shouldn’t have to worry about the security of their retirement savings.

The Alberta government commissioned a report that said the province would be entitled to leave CPP with $334 billion, more than half of the fund’s assets.

That reported cited Alberta’s relatively younger working population, higher incomes, fewer seniors drawing CPP and years of high contributions from people in the province.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has estimated Alberta is owed about 16 per cent of the fund.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023.

The Canadian Press