McMaster President Peter George sees the decision out of the University of Toronto today to end mandatory retirement at age 65 for professors and librarians as an inevitable move given the growing imbalance of older and younger workers in the workforce.

“We'll review the U of T decision,” he said. “We don't disagree in principle with ending mandatory retirement but there are fiscal and appointment issues around it. The fiscal issue is that ending mandatory retirement abruptly can be expensive for an institution, since many new replacement appointments have been bridged to expected retirements, and the University may have to face paying for both senior professors and their replacements simultaneously. On the appointments issue, many outstanding senior professors would remain in active service at the University past 65, but there would likely be fewer opportunities for making new junior appointments.”

The Ontario government is expected within the month to propose legislation ending mandatory retirement across the province.

More about the University of Toronto's decision is reported in today's Toronto Star.