Older Canadians less confident in their retirement finances: BlackRock survey

A new survey from BlackRock finds that Canadians who are closer to retirement age appear to be less confident about their plans compared with younger people.   

“Canadians have made meaningful progress building retirement savings, but saving is only part of the equation,” said Nick Nefouse, global head of retirement solutions at BlackRock, in a news release Tuesday.   

“As people move through different stages of life, they face different retirement challenges, from balancing competing priorities early in their careers to making decisions about income, spending and risk later on.”

The survey finds that 70 per cent of generation Z respondents indicated they are on track for their retirement, compared with only 51 per cent of gen X respondents, “showing signs that confidence is shifting as retirement gets closer.”

“As the generation earliest in their careers, gen Z participants face the greatest concentration of competing financial priorities, with 81 per cent expecting major planned expenses to affect their ability to save,” the report said. 

“Yet, they are also the most likely generation to feel on track for retirement, suggesting that confidence can be strongest when retirement remains a distant goal.” 

Meanwhile, 67 per cent of gen X participants say they worry about living longer than their savings will last. 

“As retirement approaches, financial pressure intensifies, and long-held assumptions are put to the test,” the report reads.

BlackRock’s survey comes as Canadians are found to be living and working longer than before. The report’s authors point to figures from Statistics Canada showing the average retirement age hit a record high of 65.4 years in 2025, up from 61.6 two decades ago. Although life expectancy has gone up during that period, but by a lower amount.  

Across all generations, the survey found fears among Canadians that their retirement will be influenced by a broader range of risks and decisions than previous generations had to deal with. Eighty per cent of respondents shared the sentiment that their generation won’t have the retirement certainty that previous ones had. 

Higher living costs were also found to be weighing on attitudes toward retirement, with 77 per cent of participants saying inflation and market volatility were making it harder to stay on track. 

Overall, the survey found that Canadians are generally confident about the progress they are making toward saving for retirement. Among those who participate in a workplace retirement savings plan, 61 per cent believe they are on track to achieve their expected lifestyle when they finish working.     

The online survey was conducted by Escalent between May 25 and June 25, with responses taken from 1,009 Canadian workplace plan participants and 305 Canadian retirees. 

The Canadian Research Insights Council, an industry organization that promotes polling standards, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.