For young families and those just starting out in their careers, the thought of retirement might be the furthest thing from their minds. The hustle and bustle of daily life is the priority – preparing dinner, getting the kids to activities like hockey, gymnastics, dance, or taking the dog for a walk.
In fact, a poll of 1,000 Ontarians, which was commissioned by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), found that eight in 10 respondents have not fully developed a retirement plan, 66 per cent had not calculated how much they would need in retirement and half of pension plan members did not read their annual pension statement.
Ontario marked the fourth annual Pension Awareness Day on February 19, 2026, an opportunity to think about the quality of life you want after you stop working and take a closer look at how workplace pensions fit into long-term retirement security. If your employer offers a pension plan, learn about the benefits you’re entitled to. If you don’t have access to a workplace pension, ask about other retirement savings options.
Every pension plan serves the same fundamental purpose: to provide financial security in retirement. For individuals, a pension is not an abstract financial product—it is the foundation of future dignity and stability. For the economy, pension assets are long-term, patient capital that supports investment, innovation, and resilience.
Pensions, therefore, matter twice: profoundly to individuals, and structurally to the financial system and the broader economy.
It’s always encouraging to see more people participating in workplace pension plans because they provide such a strong foundation for retirement. But a pension is not a complete retirement strategy. Understanding how your workplace pension plan works with your government pension plans, retirement savings plan and personal savings is critical, and that’s exactly what Pension Awareness Day was designed to do.
People often don’t give it much thought until later in life, but retirement is one of the biggest expenses you will ever have, and the more time you have to prepare, the better off you will be.
As a provincial financial services regulator FSRA’s responsibilities include promoting the good administration of pension plans and protecting and safeguarding the pension benefits and rights of pension plan beneficiaries.
For more information about Pension Awareness Day, please visit FSRA’s website (https://www.fsrao.ca/pensionawareness)
