Fonds de solidarité FTQ Offers for the First Time Its New Retirement Planning Workshop to Côte-Nord Workers

Port-Cartier, April 18, 2023

Employees at Ressource de Réinsertion Le Phare in Port-Cartier were the first in the Côte-Nord region to participate in a new Fonds de solidarité FTQ initiative to encourage Québec workers to better prepare for retirement. Developed by the Fonds' Economic Training Centre, the workshop addresses personal finance topics such as budgeting, saving, personal balance sheet and retirement.

"Ressource de Réinsertion Le Phare is proud to have offered this workshop to its employees. As an adapted company, we believe in social inclusion for all. This workshop provided our employees with information that's sure to have a positive impact on their financial health. Financial issues can be stressful, complicated and difficult to address. The trainers' approachability and interaction with the participants helped make this workshop a success," said Marie-Anne Therriault, workplace coordinator at Ressource de Réinsertion Le Phare.

"I really enjoyed the workshop and especially the parts on retirement. I had already taken a course on budgeting, but I learned new things here. I think everyone needs to save if they want a better quality of life down the road. Before this workshop, I didn't take saving seriously. Now I understand why it's so important," said Mireille Bélanger, general and exceptional worker at Ressource de Réinsertion Le Phare.

"We are happy to support social economy enterprises like Le Phare that want to help their employees better prepare for retirement. Saving for retirement is a real issue that must be kept on the social and economic agenda in Québec. We need to keep this issue in the spotlight so that we don't fall further behind Ontario in terms of seniors' wealth by encouraging workers to put money aside today and by making it as easy as possible for them to save for retirement," said Serge Cadieux, Executive Vice-President, Business Development, Savings Market and Economic Training Centre, at the Fonds de solidarité FTQ. 

According to recent data from Statistics Canada, in 2020, the average income of people aged 65 and over was almost $9,000 higher in Ontario than in Québec ($49,062 versus $40,331).[1] 

Also, 40 %of retired people in Québec receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which is reserved for low-income retirees. Only Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have proportionally more GIS recipients than Québec.[2] We must therefore make it a priority to encourage more people to save for retirement. 

By 2027, the Fonds wants to encourage 100,000 new shareholders without a pension plan or earning less than $55,000 to save for a better retirement. 

Providing workers with economic training and helping them prepare for retirement are two components of the Fonds mission, along with driving Québec's economic development and helping create, maintain and preserve jobs.

About the Fonds de solidarité FTQ

The Fonds de solidarité FTQ invests to build a better society by channelling the savings of its 753,125 shareholders into development and risk capital investments to help Québec transition to a green economy, to a human-centred world of work, and to a healthier society. The Fonds offers businesses unsecured financing and strategic support. With $17.8 billion in net assets as at November 30, 2022, the Fonds has supported over 3,600 partner companies and more than 296,000 jobs. 

Please read the prospectus before buying shares of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained on the Website fondsftq.com, from a local representative or at the offices of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ. The shares of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ are not guaranteed, their value changes and past performance may not be repeated.

-30-

[1] Statistics Canada : Table 11-10-0039-01 Tax filers and dependants, seniors with income by source of income and age

[2] Employment and Social Development Canada : Old Age Security (OAS) - Number of Persons Receiving OAS Benefits, by Province and by Type (August 2022)