Q&A: CPP After 65

This image is no longer available

Can an employer force you to opt out of CPP?

 

Q – A friend of mine works in a restaurant. He is 65-years-old. He wants to continue to contribute to CPP. The owner of the restaurant told him that he will not pay the CPP contribution for him and gave him a letter to sign agreeing to this. If he refused to sign he would have lost his job. Is he allowed to do that? Is this legal? – George N.

 

A – An employee may choose to opt out of the CPP after reaching 65 but it is supposed to be the individual’s decision, not the employer’s. The Service Canada website states as follows (bold face is theirs): “Starting at age 65, you can choose not to contribute to the CPP. To stop contributing, you must fill out form CPT30, Election to stop contributing to the Canada Pension Plan, or revocation of a prior election. Give a copy of the form to your employer, and send the original to the Canada Revenue Agency.”

If your friend reported the employer’s coercion to the authorities, the restaurant owner could be in a lot of trouble. Of course, the end result is that your friend would probably lose his job. That’s presumably why the employer felt he could get away with this. – G.P.

 

Do you have a money question you’d like to ask Gordon? Find out how to submit it here and then check out our Money section regularly to see if it was chosen for a response. Sorry, we cannot send personal answers.