Equipping Canadians for Success: A Shadow Budget for 2014

Abstract

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Evaluating Public-Sector Pensions: Are Federal Public Servants Overpaid?

“…For example, the amortization of pension fund investment gains and losses, interest on unfunded post retirement insurance liabilities and other adjustments associated with the underwriting of pensions and benefits are considered personnel expenses but should not be considered compensation, as discussed in Section 5 of my earlier Commentary. Laurin and Robson (2014) estimate that the rate of increase in wages, salaries and benefits (other than post-retirement benefits) per fulltime equivalent employee averaged 3.5 percent per annum in the federal public sector during the decade ending with the 2012/13 fiscal year as compared to a 3.0 percent rate of increase in the business sector. Thus it appears that wages and salaries in the federal public sector have been increasing more quickly than in the private sector, but the gap between the two is difficult to estimate with much confidence.…”