NDP Leader Jack Layton on Thursday proposed the creation of a national pension insurance program to protect retirement savings.

Under Layton's proposal, which he spoke about at a morning press conference in Ottawa, the insurance program would be funded by employer pension plans and guarantee pensioners up to $2,500 a month in the event of bankruptcy and plan failure.

Layton also wants a national facility to adopt workplace pension plans of companies in bankruptcy or in difficulty and keep them operating.

The NDP leader also pushed the Conservative government to increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement, at a cost of about $700 million a year, and to double the Canada Pension Plan to $1,817 a month.

Layton said during question period that there is an urgency "when it comes to cases like Nortel and others, and we need the government to take action now."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the issue complex and "sometimes expensive."

He said the federal government was working on the issue with provincial governments, which regulate about 90 per cent of private pensions in the country.

On Wednesday, about 2,000 people demonstrated on Parliament Hill in support of retirees from Nortel, which is in bankruptcy protection and has been selling off its assets.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said at the rally that his party was committed to changing Canadian bankruptcy laws so former employees of failed companies don't lose their pensions and disability benefits when their employer goes bust.