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Explainers | Expert response

Thoughts on the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Mortality Improvements Research

This is the beginning of a multi-part series covering the recently released Report to the CIA’s Project Oversight Group on Mortality Improvements Research (the “report”). We are pleased to present key observations as well as outline important considerations that we will cover in future instalments of this series.

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All News and insights

All the latest information, news and research from the Club Vita team.

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General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-04 – Do people believe human lifespan will reach 130 years?

Within the longevity world there is an active debate around the maximum achievable human lifespan. Some schools of thought believe we’ve pretty much reached our maximum. Others believe extreme long life might be just around the corner. In our recent Risk of Living Longer survey, we asked our participants what they thought.

28 April 2025

Research & technical | Research & technical notes

Canadian Mortality Improvements

Club Vita’s latest research indicates that defined benefit (DB) pension plan members have experienced higher improvements in mortality rates in recent years than the general Canadian population. This paper compares mortality trends from Club Vita’s extensive DB pensioner dataset to general population data and improvement rates in the CIA-MI-2024 model, highlighting key considerations for projecting future mortality rates for the pensioner populations.

21 April 2025

General interest | Other

Risk of Living Longer Survey, March 2025

Our ongoing webinar series – The Risk of Living Longer – explored the potential drivers of increased future longevity and delved into the profound question: How long can we go? Accompanying the series, we sent out a survey to participants asking them about their views on future longevity. It gives us great pleasure to present the results.

14 March 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Chart 25-02: Did Canada really experience a lost decade of mortality improvement?

The media has recently commented on the fact that although life expectancy at birth in Canada in 2023 improved for the first time since 2019, it was back on par with 2012 levels – claiming a lost decade of mortality improvement. However, this is not the most relevant measure of longevity for pension plans and insurers. In this edition of Top Charts, Thomas Spanos explores the 2023 data and shows that longevity outcomes have been more positive for pensioner populations.

24 February 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-12: Do we really wish it could be Christmas every day?

Inspired by the festive classic I wish it could be Christmas Every Day by British glam-rock band Wizzard, in this edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett ponders the impact on life expectancy if it really was Christmas every day.

19 December 2024

Explainers | External publications

Unpacking the CIA's New Mortality Improvements Scale (CanMI-2024)

The recently released Report to the CIA’s Project Oversight Group on Mortality Improvements Research provides the first comprehensive review of mortality improvements in Canada since 2017, introducing the CanMI-2024 model for projecting future trends, though technical concerns and implementation questions remain to be addressed.

27 November 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-09: Happiness and life expectancy

In this edition of Top Charts, Jill Jamieson and Erik Pickett look at the correlation between happiness and life expectancy at birth.

18 September 2024

Explainers | External publications

Club Vita Explains Longevity Misconceptions and Risks in National Institute of Ageing 8-part paper series

Over the course of 2024 Dr Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald has been releasing an 8-part paper series for the National Institute of Ageing on 7 Steps Toward Better CPP/QPP Claiming Decisions. Dr. Erik Pickett contributes to explaining common longevity misconceptions and risks that could have important implications for retirement decisions.

16 September 2024

Explainers | Expert response

Club Vita's Further thoughts on the CIA’s Mortality Improvements Research, Part 3: Adjusting for COVID-19

In this instalment of our multi-part series covering the recently released CIA report, we explore the pandemic’s profound impact on mortality and whether mortality assumptions need to be adjusted for COVID-19.

6 June 2024

Explainers | Expert response

Club Vita's Further thoughts on the CIA’s Mortality Improvements Research, Part 2: Socio-economic differences in mortality improvements

In this instalment, we explore if population level data is appropriate for projecting mortality improvements for the DB and Insured populations.

16 May 2024

Explainers | Expert response

Club Vita's Further Thoughts on the CIA's Mortality Improvements Research, Part 1: Drivers of Mortality Improvements

An important part of projecting possible future changes to mortality rates is understanding some of the key drivers of change and how these might evolve over time.

7 May 2024

Explainers | Expert response

Thoughts on the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Mortality Improvements Research

30 April 2024

Explainers | External publications

New CIA Statement Explores the Vital Link Between Education and Longevity

Many studies have found there is a positive correlation between education and longevity. Robert Brown, FCIA, conducted a literature review for the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) that examined several of these studies and the results were consistent – the more education people have, the longer they live. And the higher their educational attainment, the longer they live in good health. Insights included from our expert, Shantel Aris, Head of Longevity Experience Studies.

18 March 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-02: Wait times in Canada’s health system

Wait times for medical procedures in Canada have increased steadily and dramatically over the past 30 years, a trend made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Delays in receiving health care can impact quality of life while waiting and worsen ultimate health outcomes. In this edition of Top Charts, Michael Reid discusses the increase in wait times and explores what impact these wait times may have on longer-term mortality.

31 January 2024

General interest | Personal blogs

The Longevity of Robert Burns

"Tonight, Scots around the world will be celebrating the immortal memory of Robert Burns, our national poet. Burns made a remarkable contribution to the richness of humankind in his short time on Earth. Tributes to his legacy will touch on many aspects of his life. It made me wonder about his contribution to longevity." - Douglas Anderson

24 January 2024

General interest | Personal blogs

Ten reasons to be cheerful: 2024 New Year edition

As has become his annual tradition, Douglas kicks off 2024 with a note of positivity. To help you keep the January blues at bay, he has collected together his top ten positive health stories from 2023.

8 January 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-13: Tontine days of retirement

In this holiday-special edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett and Carmen Gatta explore which group from song the 12 days of Christmas with whom it would be best to enter a tontine contract.

3 January 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-11: Canada’s opioids crisis

Canada’s opioids crisis is an intricate public health issue. Disproportionately affecting men, it has quickly become the worst drug crisis in history. Similar to the US, Canada has been experiencing increases in opioids related deaths for years and this issue has seemingly been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this edition of Top Charts, Alexandra Sonnenwirth discusses the increase in opioids related deaths across Canada and what it might mean for pension plans and insurers.

24 November 2023

General interest | VitaMins

VitaMins Health: GLP-1 obesity medications - will they be as big as statins for life expectancy?

The World Health Organization has referred to obesity as “one of today’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems”. But excitement is now rising around new appetite-suppressing medications with public health organizations hopeful that these treatments may help tackle this growing epidemic.

17 November 2023

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-09: Canadian excess deaths in 2022

Excess deaths in Canada in 2020 and 2021 were well below the excess death levels in both the US and the UK. In 2022, while the US and the UK saw important decreases in excess deaths, Canada experienced significant increases, bringing excess death levels well above the levels in the other regions. In this edition of Top Charts, Alexandra Sonnenwirth discusses the increase in excess mortality in Canada in 2022.

19 September 2023

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-06: Are the top causes of death reflected in our search history?

There can often be a disconnect between perception and reality with regard to things that have the largest impact on our lives. But how much is this the case with causes of death? In this edition of Top Charts Mia Marcellus compares the top causes of death in our different geographies with their relative Internet search frequency.

5 July 2023

General interest | VitaMins

VitaMins Health: Antimicrobial resistance – AI to the rescue?

Antimicrobial resistance remains in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top 10 global public health threats facing humanity – could AI help us in dealing with this existential risk?

15 June 2023

Business updates | Press releases

Club Vita strengthens Canadian team to support continued growth

Club Vita, an international leader in longevity data analytics, today announced recent key appointments and promotions in its Canadian team to support its continued growth.

31 May 2023

Research & technical | Research & technical notes

2022 Canadian VitaCurves technical papers

Technical papers on modeling techniques and underlying data to accompany the release of our CV22 Canadian VitaCurves model. This new release introduces the first COVID-19 year (2020) into the Canadian VitaCurves model.

13 April 2023

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-03: Universal state retirement ages

There has recently been widespread debate across the globe (e.g. in Canada, the UK, the US and France) about potential increases in state retirement ages. Much of the debate has focused on the increases in life expectancy since the introduction of state retirement provisions – but life expectancy is not the same for everyone in society. In this edition of Top Charts, Alexandra Sonnenwirth explores this issue and asks whether it’s fair to have a one-size fits all retirement age.

30 March 2023

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 22-12: Were all excess deaths during the pandemic in Canada due to COVID?

In this edition of Top Charts, Michael Reid discusses excess deaths through the pandemic in Canada and asks whether they were all due to COVID.

13 December 2022

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 22-11: Total number of human lives and deaths ever

In this edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett and Carmen Gatta look at the total number of people who have ever lived and died. Are more people alive today than have lived and died in the past?

5 December 2022

General interest | VitaMins

VitaMins Health: Wearable technology - all dressed up but where will it go?

Availability of, and interest in, wearable technology is on the rise. However, is it having as positive an impact on our physical activity, our mental health, and our life expectancy as we hope?

17 November 2022

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 22-09: Is there a gender pension gap in Canadian Defined Benefit pensions?

In this edition of Top Charts, Shantel Aris discusses the gender pension gap in Canada and its impact on longevity.

21 September 2022

Opinion & experiences | Behavioural economics blogs

Reactance – I won’t do what you tell me!

“Why don’t you just do as you’re told?” is a phrase I heard many times as a child. Perhaps I often had a strong aversion to the specific instructions I was given, or perhaps I really didn’t like being told what to do.

19 July 2022