MP Pension Plan Costing $52M Annually, Retired MPs Averaging $78K a Year

Two people walk toward the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Nearly $52 million was spent on pensions for retired members of parliament last year, with 579 MPs taking in nearly $78,000 each, according to a Treasury Board report.

The pension plan has increased more than a 10 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to figures from a recently published report first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The amounts paid to each retired MP are calculated based on the number of years they served in the House of Commons along with their seniority. All MPs require a minimum of six years in parliament to qualify for the program.

The plan also makes room for the increased cost of living. Pensions are increased based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which led to a 6.3 percent increase in 2023 and a 2.4 percent increase the year prior.

Benefits continue to be paid even when a retired MP dies. The pension is passed along to the surviving spouse or to any dependent children they may have. Of the beneficiaries listed in the report, 190 were either spouses or dependent children.

Surviving spouses receive 60 percent of the benefit amount while a dependent child can receive anywhere from 10 percent to 80 percent of the benefit depending on age and if the parent’s spouse is still alive.

The report was released the same week that current MPs saw their salaries increase by 4.2 percent, or between $8,500 to $17,000 for the year.

The April 1 increase means Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will now earn more than $400,000 per year, while Cabinet Ministers will earn nearly $300,000 and backbench MPs just over $200,000 annually.

Both the current salaries for MPs as well as the pensions for retired MPs are well above the average wage for non-unionized Canadians which, in 2023, stood a bit above $1,200 per week or $62,400 per year according to figures from Statistics Canada.