Jan. 19: BEST OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

January 19, 2026

Paper suggests employers should help workers build emergency savings

Should employer help their employees save up for emergencies?

An article by Bianca Thompson in The Globe and Mail reports on a recent report that suggests just such a cooperative approach.

“A recent report from the Financial Wellness Lab at Western University is calling on companies to help Canadians contribute to emergency savings accounts,” she writes.

“Researchers at the lab say many Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque, with little to fall back on when unexpected expenses hit. The white paper found that more than 60 per cent of working-age Canadians couldn’t cover a $1,000 emergency without borrowing or going into debt,” the article continues.

A possible solution, the article continues, would be “employer-sponsored emergency savings programs,” or ESAs.

With such a program, the report notes, “contributions to ESAs would be automatically deducted from an employee’s pay, much as they are with workplace pension plans. The money would be set aside in small amounts from each paycheque to cover short-term emergencies.”

The white paper envisions a “two-tier” approach for the ESAs. There would be a “rainy day fund” for “small, unexpected expenses” as well as a “larger emergency fund for major financial shocks, such as a job loss or large-scale home repairs.”

“Cash coming in does not always match cash going out, and we need a safety net,” states Chuck Grace, co-founder of Canada’s Financial Wellness Lab, in the Globe article. “When employees are less distracted by financial stress, they are healthier, more focused and more productive, which benefits employers as well,” he tells the Globe.

Interestingly, a couple of firms are already trying this idea out, the article reports.

Ontario’s Mainstreet Credit Union, the article notes, recently rolled an ESA program out to all staff. CI Financial contributed to the white paper, and CI’s Kambiz Vatan-Abadi tells the Globe that an ESA can be a “`win-win solution’ that supports employees’ financial stability while benefiting employers in the process.”

“Employers who are financially healthy and resilient perform better at work,” he tells the Globe.

The article points out, citing figures from The National Payroll Institute’s 2025 Annual Survey of Working Canadians, that “financial stress costs Canadian businesses nearly $70-billion a year in lost productivity.”

ESAs are common in the U.S. and “gaining traction” in the U.K., but are few are far between in Canada so far, the article reports.

The article suggests “auto-enrollment” as a way to get people into such programs. This means you are automatically enrolled unless you choose to opt out.

“A British study found that less than one per cent of workers opted in when they had to self-enroll, but participation jumped to 50 per cent once enrolment was automatic,” the article notes.

It will be interesting to see if this idea gains traction here in Canada.

Did you know that the average Canada Pension Plan payment in 2025 is, according to the federal government’s figures just $848.37 per month? And the Old Age Security adds – on average – a maximum of $740.09?

If you aren’t supplementing these modest amounts with your own savings, or via a retirement program at work, it might be prudent to begin putting money away for your retired life now.

A fine partner in this effort is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. With SPP, you can make annual contributions of any amount, up to a maximum of your personal registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) limit. You can also transfer any amount into SPP from non-locked-in RRSPs you may have.

SPP then does the heavy lifting – investing those savings in a low-cost, professionally managed, pooled fund. When it’s time to retire, your choices include receiving a monthly annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

The Globe and Mail

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