QUEBEC If proposals to fix the provinces ailing pension system become law, working Quebecers would pay $843 a year, and their employers would add an equal amount to fund a proposed new longevity pension.

And before the report was even presented Wednesday, Premier Pauline Marois said legislation to do just that is being prepared and would be presented soon.

Marois called for unanimity among all parties in the assembly, to protect the retirement of those who have contributed all their lives to retirement plans and others who have not, who need more support.

The longevity pension is the main recommendation in a 219-page report presented Wednesday by seven pension experts after 18 months of behind-the-scenes consultations and deliberations.

Benefits under the new plan would be paid starting at age 75 on top of federal Old Age Security and existing Quebec Pension Plan benefits, adding as much as $14,564 a year to a pensioners income.

Quebecers are retiring earlier and living longer, putting unsustainable pressure on private pension plans.

The panel of experts was named by the Liberal government of Jean Charest in 2011 because private pension plans in the province have a shortfall, which has grown to $41 billion, between the money they have and the pensions they are committed to paying out.

But the panel, headed by Alban DAmours, former head of Quebecs Desjardins financial co-operative movement, broadened its focus to the restructuring of the provinces pension regime, looking 40 years ahead.

The looming problems are considerable.

The proportion of Quebecers working and paying taxes will drop to two working Quebecers for everyone over 65 by 2030.

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‘Longevity pension’ would cost working Quebecers $843 a year