Couillard government looks to push back age Quebecers can collect public pensions

MONTREAL – Some Quebecers may have to delay their retirement plans if the provincial government succeeds in a plan to push back the age at which they can collect pensions.

Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said in Montreal on Saturday that it was inevitable that the age of collecting benefits would need to be delayed.

Currently, Quebecers can begin receiving cheques from the provincial pension plan at 60.

Leitao said a person who retires at that age can expect to be active for another 25 years.

He said the government would have no choice but to adjust the retirement age in order to ensure the regime’s sustainability.

Leitao made the comments at a meeting of Quebec’s governing Liberals

The Liberals have also endorsed the idea of replacing fiscal incentives that favour early retirement with incentives that encourage people to work longer.

The government has already demonstrated its commitment to the issue by introducing several of these types of measures in the last budget.

Leitao said the government will go even further with these changes in the years to come.