Canada slips to 21st in global retirement ranking as Canadians’ target hits $1.7M. Here’s what’s at risk and how to protect your retirement

If your retirement plan rests on a paid-off house and a couple of government cheques, that drop is a timely prompt to check whether those assets will actually cover your bills.

Why did Canada drop to 21st for retirement security?

Natixis Investment Managers compiles its annual Global Retirement Index with CoreData Research, a global market research consultancy. It scores countries on 18 indicators in four categories: finances in retirement, material well-being, health and quality of life.

So what pushed Canada down in the ranking? In the 2026 edition, Canada fell four places to 15th for finances in retirement. Higher inflation and rising government debt weighed on its score, with the nation ranking 38th on government indebtedness. Its score for bank non-performing loans also fell as Canadian banks set aside more money for loans that could go bad amid rising household delinquencies.

Canada did manage to climb four places to 13th on health, driven by higher health spending per capita, though it slipped one spot to 24th on life expectancy. Still, a Canadian who reaches 65 can expect to live a long time: another 22.3 years for women and 19.7 years for men, according to Statistics Canada. About 15 of those years are expected to be spent in good health, which means savings need to stretch across a longer retirement, including the years when care costs may climb.

Is your house really your retirement plan?

Many near-retirees may expect home equity to do the heavy lifting. According to a C.D. Howe memo, StatCan data shows the median net worth of families whose main earner is 55 to 64 rose 91% between 1999 and 2023 after inflation, to $873,400.

The catch is that most of that wealth sits in housing, which authors John Stapleton, principal at Open Policy, and Colin Busby, director of policy engagement at the C.D. Howe Institute, call “a surprisingly poor retirement income tool.”

You still need somewhere to live, though. In 2019, research from HEC Montréal’s Retirement and Savings Institute, also cited in the C.D. Howe memo, found the average homeowner converting a home into an annuity could generate about $1,750 a month, which was less than the $1,940 national average rent at the time. While rents have eased since peaking in 2024, the national average asking rent was $2,034 in September, according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation, a real estate research firm.

Downsizing, a reverse mortgage or selling and renting can all unlock equity — but each comes with trade-offs: transaction costs, a smaller estate or exposure to rent increases. In some cases downsizing frees up meaningful cash, but it rarely works as a simple pension substitute.

How much will CPP and OAS actually pay you?

Government benefits are the other pillar most Canadians rely on during retirement, so it’s worth knowing what they deliver. The maximum Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payment at 65 is $1,507.65 a month in 2026. But the average new pension at 65 from October to December 2026 is $858.34.