The investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan ( CPP ) says Canadians appear unprepared for and worried about how long retirement could last.

The 2026 retirement survey by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said a strong majority of the approximately 5,000 people polled understand that people are living longer, but only 34 per cent said they have accounted for that in their retirement planning.

“The survey identifies a significant disconnect between the retirement people expect and the retirement they believe they are financially prepared to support,” Michel Leduc, senior managing director and chief public affairs officer at CPPIB, said in an email, adding there is a “gap between awareness and action.”

The survey conducted from late August into early September said three-quarters of Canadians have set aside money for retirement, but only 42 per cent have a financial plan in place for when they stop working and 34 per cent are saving for retirement without a financial plan.

Four in 10 people said they’ve never discussed how many years of retirement they need to plan for.

Leduc said 45 per cent of non-retirees are struggling to even estimate how long they expect to be retired for. Of those who could provide an estimate, 20 years was the median retirement length, but they believe their finances will only cover half that time.

Only 15 per cent of people still working said they think they have enough money to fully support retirement, while 59 per cent said they were unsure.

“Living longer changes the way we need to think about retirement,” Leduc said. “Putting money aside is an important start. But planning also means thinking about how long retirement could last, the sources of income you may have … and how those pieces fit together. Doing this boosts confidence in planning for a potentially long retirement.”

Canadians are also trying to save for retirement in tricky economic times since rising interest rates and the elevated cost of living are eating into their pocketbooks.

Almost 35 per cent said they were very or extremely stressed about day-to-day money issues, up from 31 per cent last year, and 47 per cent of those who earn less than $50,000 a year suffer from similar levels of anxiety.

With the financial stakes higher than ever for some, 55 per cent said they are worried about making “the wrong decisions” about money, up from about 50 per cent last year.

The survey also dug into how long people think their retirement savings will last, with 61 per cent fearing that they will outlive what they have set aside and 45 per cent saying they won’t have enough money if they live to 100.

The odds of living that long may be slim, but they are not out of the realm of possibility.

The number of Canadian centenarians has been slowly rising over the past decade to 10,105 as of July, up from 7,237 in 2016, according to Statistics Canada. The share of the population 65 and older grew to 20 per cent from approximately 16 per cent in the same time frame.

The average life expectancy in Canada is 82.7 years and the average retirement age is 65, up from 62 in 2003, according to the agency.

CPPIB has been conducting its retirement survey since 2023, but it included a “retirement longevity index” this year, which scored Canadians’ confidence in the longevity of their retirement savings at 44 out of 100 and gave them a score of 4.2 out of 10 on how prepared they are for a long retirement.

Taken together, CPPIB said it looks like Canadians have little confidence in financially withstanding a “long retirement” and many don’t understand how their CPP payments are calculated.

Only three in 10 know CPP payments are linked to inflation and about half understand their CPP payments are based on their years of contributions and average earnings.

On the other hand, Leduc said those who understand how CPP works are more likely to be better prepared for retirement.

The CPP fund totalled $863.6 billion as of June 30. The Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada projected in its latest review of the CPP fund that it will remain financially sustainable for at least the next 75 years, CPPIB said in the press release.

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Ontario continues to delay balancing its books as its economic outlook deteriorates, and now projects it won’t reach a surplus until the 2030 fiscal year.

In an update released Thursday, the province forecast a $16.9 billion deficit for the fiscal year that began April 1, up from the $13.8 billion projected in its budget released in March. Larger-than-expected deficits continue until 2029-30, when the government predicts a $200 million surplus. — Bloomberg

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A 74-year-old Alberta man is worried that his retirement portfolio relies too heavily on bank dividends, leaving him vulnerable to a Black Swan event. FP Answers has some suggestions for his RRIF to ease his concerns, including some U.S. options. Keep reading to find out more.

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Today’s Posthaste was written by Gigi Suhanic with additional reporting from Financial Post staff and Bloomberg.

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