Ontario’s premier says the idea behind the coming provincial retirement pension plan is to make sure there is an even playing field for employees across Ontario.

“By 2020 then, every employee in Ontario will have the added retirement security of either the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan or a comparable workplace pension plan,” Wynne explained.

Premier Wynne has clarified the exemption rules for the provincial pension plan, which will be phased in starting in 2017 with larger employers, then 2018 for medium sized companies and 2019 for small businesses.  Most companies with pension plans, either defined benefit or defined contribution will be exempt.

The question is, how much more will it cost to implement without the cooperation of the federal government.

“I’m saying we don’t know what those costs will be at this point,” Wynne hedged.

Meantime, the ORPP is becoming a big federal election issue in Ontario as Premier Wynne and Conservative Leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper continue to clash over it.

“I am delighted to see, quite frankly, that our refusal to cooperate with the imposition of this tax is making it more difficult for the Ontario government to proceed,” said Harper as he reiterated his stance that the ORPP is a job killing tax, while on the campaign trail during a stop in Markham.

The plan would cost both employees and employers between $2.16 and $4.50 a day.