Aug 18, 2026
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Add us on GoogleWhen you’re mapping out your retirement, the age you plan to stop working shapes almost everything else, including how big your nest egg should be and when to start collecting your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) benefits. But according to finance expert Suze Orman, artificial intelligence (AI) is adding a dangerous new variable to that math, one that could push some workers out of their jobs years before they planned to leave.
Orman warns AI could put your retirement plan at risk
Orman has spent years cautioning that too many people plan to work into their late 60s, or even later, without a backup plan if that timeline falls apart.
In a recent blog post, Orman wrote that she has “always been concerned when people say their retirement plan is to keep working through their sixties,” and cautioned that AI adds a new risk on top of that plan.
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For Canadians nearing retirement, there are unique risks posed by the nation’s retirement system that has its own rules about who gets paid what, and when.
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The Canadian data backs up Orman’s concern
Canadian economists and labour researchers are already seeing early signs of the disruption Orman is describing. A January 2026 analysis from Signal49 Research, formerly known as the Conference Board of Canada, estimated that AI-driven automation could leave Canadian employment as many as 555,000 jobs fewer than where it would otherwise be by 2030, with a full recovery expected to take years. Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work, a Canadian labour-focused research group, has separately warned that a slowdown in AI investment abroad could still ripple into the Canadian job market given how tied the two economies are.
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A separate Signal49 analysis found that 57% of Canadian jobs are highly exposed to AI. Moreover, roughly half of those positions are considered at risk of having their core tasks automated outright, rather than simply reshaped by the technology.
The stakes are higher for workers who haven’t built a cushion. A 2025 survey by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOPP) found that 36% of Canadians aged 55 to 64 have $5,000 or less saved for retirement.
What forced early retirement could actually cost you
To see why timing matters so much, consider this hypothetical example. Let’s assume a 50-year-old Canadian has $215,600 saved in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), earns $71,000 a year and plans to contribute $7,000 annually until age 65, earning an average 8% return. If that plan holds, they’d have roughly $873,900 saved by 65. Using the commonly cited 4% withdrawal rule, that would generate about $34,950 a year, on top of government benefits.
Assuming a solid, though not maximum, contribution history, this person might expect around $1,200 a month from CPP at 65, plus close to $752 a month in OAS — the maximum available to someone aged 65 to 74 as of the third quarter of 2026. Combined, that’s roughly $58,350 a year in retirement income.
Now say AI disruption pushes this same worker out of their job at 62, three years earlier than planned. With three fewer years of contributions, their RRSP balance would land closer to $675,750, producing about $27,000 a year under the 4% rule. CPP can still be started as early as 60, but every month claimed before 65 permanently reduces the payment by 0.6%, so a three-year head start would cut that $1,200 benefit down to roughly $941 a month, or about $11,300 a year.
Unlike CPP, OAS cannot be started before 65 under any circumstances. Someone forced out of work at 62 faces a three-year gap with no OAS income at all, relying solely on a reduced RRSP withdrawal and early CPP until they turn 65.
Once OAS finally begins, this hypothetical retiree would be living on a smaller RRSP balance, a permanently reduced CPP payment and a full OAS cheque — a combined income of about $47,300 a year, compared with the $58,350 they could have had by working the extra three years. That’s a gap of roughly $11,000 less every year for the rest of retirement, not counting the leaner years in between.
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Will AI really force Canadians out of their jobs?
Whether AI actually pushes large numbers of Canadians into early retirement is still an open question. Some economists point to AI-driven layoffs already spreading through the finance and technology sectors internationally. Others note that Canadian AI adoption remains slower than in the U.S., and Statistics Canada’s own early analysis has found no clear evidence yet that AI-exposed occupations are seeing disproportionate job losses.
Either way, Orman’s broader point holds: the closer someone is to retirement, the less room they have to absorb a surprise.
How Orman says you should adjust your plan — and what that means for Canadians
Orman’s advice for workers worried about AI comes down to two steps: save more and stay adaptable so you’re not left behind if your industry shifts. She’s also cautioned against overhauling investments out of fear.
For Canadians, that advice translates into a few concrete moves:
- Use your RRSP room while you’re earning. The RRSP contribution limit for 2026 is $33,810, or 18% of your prior year’s earned income, whichever is lower — and unused room carries forward indefinitely.
- Get a real number for your CPP. Signing into your My Service Canada Account gives a personalized estimate, rather than relying on the average or maximum figures.
- Plan around the OAS gap. Because OAS can’t start before 65, anyone considering early retirement should budget for a bridge period using RRSP or TFSA savings, or part-time income.
- Build in flexibility now. Structuring your savings so an early exit at 62 wouldn’t be catastrophic means a job loss becomes an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
Orman isn’t predicting that every worker will be forced out early — but her warning is a reminder that a retirement plan built around one exact exit age has little room for error. For Canadians, the extra risk is the OAS gap: fewer years on the job isn’t just decreased RRSP contributions; it’s fewer years without the OAS cheque you may have been counting on. Building a plan flexible enough to survive a surprise retirement, whether from AI or anything else, is the more realistic way to protect a retirement that’s still years away.
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Christy Bieber a freelance contributor to Moneywise, who has been writing professionally since 2008. She writes about everything related to money management and has been published by NY Post, Fox Business, USA Today, Forbes Advisor, Credible, Credit Karma, and more.
