News and insights
Nouvelles et perspectives
All the latest information, news and research from the Club Vita Canada team
Retrouvez toutes les informations, nouvelles et recherches réalisées par l’équipe de Club Vita Canada.
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Mega Trend 12: Can nutritional awareness save us from the rise of fast food?
Grande tendance 12: La sensibilisation à une bonne alimentation peut-elle nous sauver de l’essor de la restauration rapide?
AUTHORED BY JACKLYN HOPKINS, December 2021
AUTEUR : JACKLYN HOPKINS, décembre 2021
Obesity has been on the rise in the US, UK and Canada for some time now and is strongly linked to reductions in life expectancy. This is likely to have a significant effect on future health and longevity, but with growing appreciation for the impact of nutrition on health, there is hope that we may be able to turn this tide. Depuis un certain temps maintenant, l’obésité est en hausse aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et au Canada. Elle est aussi fortement liée à une réduction de l’espérance de vie. Cette situation risque d’avoir un effet important sur la santé et la longévité futures, mais la prise de conscience croissante de l’impact de l’alimentation sur la santé permet d’espérer que la tendance pourra être inversée. Read more ... Pour en savoir plus...
20211203
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VitaMins Health Antimicrobials – don’t take them for granted!
VitaMines Santé Les antimicrobiens : à ne pas tenir pour acquis!
November 2021
novembre 2021
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. It predicts the emergence of superbugs resistant to current treatments will result in an additional 1.2 trillion USD in health expenditure per year by 2050.
Read more ...L’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a désigné la résistance aux antimicrobiens comme l’une des 10 principales menaces mondiales pour la santé publique auxquelles est confrontée l’humanité. L’OMS prévoit que l’émergence de superbactéries résistantes aux traitements actuels entraînera des dépenses de santé supplémentaires de 1,2 billion (soit mille milliards) de dollars américains par an d’ici 2050.
Pour en savoir plus...20211111
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How Has COVID-19 Impacted Canadian Defined Benefit Pensioner Longevity?
En quoi la COVID-19 a-t-elle eu une incidence sur la longévité des retraités d'un régime canadien à prestations déterminées?
AUTHORED BY RICHARD BROWN, November 2021
AUTEUR : RICHARD BROWN, novembre 2021
COVID-19 rapidly turned many aspects of our lives upside-down. For someone working in the fairly specialized world of longevity analytics, it was eerie and surreal to have the discussion of deaths and mortality quickly become so prolific throughout mainstream media. On one hand, all the reporting of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths helped quantify what was happening but it also drew attention to the fact that the data and tools to gain a complete picture were lacking.
Read more ...La COVID-19 a rapidement et fondamentalement perturbé plusieurs aspects de nos vies. Pour quelqu’un qui travaille dans le domaine relativement spécialisé de l’analyse de la longévité, de constater que les médias grand public accordaient tout d’un coup et si rapidement une telle importance aux discussions portant sur les décès et la mortalité était à la fois un peu étrange et surréaliste. Si, d’une part, l’ensemble des informations concernant les cas de COVID-19, les hospitalisations et les décès liés à cette pandémie ont contribué à quantifier ce qui se passait, d’autre part, la situation a attiré l’attention sur le caractère insuffisant des données et des outils nécessaires pour brosser un tableau complet de la situation.
Pour en savoir plus...20211105
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The 5-year evolution of VitaCurves Canada
L’évolution sur cinq ans de VitaCurves Canada
October 2021
octobre 2021
Club Vita is proud to release its 5th edition of VitaCurves, our multifactor baseline longevity model that captures over 10 years of diversity between male and female individual life expectancy at age 65. We want to thank the Club members for their participation in helping grow our analytics and contributing to the public good. We also salute our other supporters: the actuarial firms, insurers, auditors, regulators as well as LinkedIn followers and friends.
Read more ...C Club Vita est fier de publier la 5e édition de VitaCurves, son modèle de longévité de base à facteurs multiples qui explique plus de 10 ans de variation entre les espérances de vie individuelles des hommes et des femmes à 65 ans. Nous tenons à remercier les membres de Club Vita pour leur participation à la croissance de nos analyses et leur contribution au bien commun. Nous saluons également tous les autres qui nous ont soutenu : cabinets d’actuaires, assureurs, vérificateurs, organismes de réglementation, ainsi que nos abonnés et amis sur LinkedIn.
Pour en savoir plus...20211013
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Mega Trends 11+: COVID-19 is seen as a landmark moment in the evolution of life expectancy…and in the future, we end up living shorter lives.
AUTHORED BY JAMES MALONEY, October 6, 2021
The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been plain to see around the world. It is thought to be unlikely that the disease can be eradicated; the medium- and long-term effects on life expectancy remain uncertain.
Read more ...20211006
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Mega Trends 11-: COVID-19 is seen as a landmark moment in the evolution of life expectancy…and in the future, we end up living shorter lives.
AUTHORED BY DANIEL REDDY, October 6, 2021
COVID-19 and its global rampage over the last 18 months is undoubtedly a major event in the field of longevity demographics and, sadly, in many people’s lives. In the future, the pandemic will catalyze changes in life expectancies – some driving increases in life spans and some driving decreases. In this blog, I will focus on those expected to decrease life expectancy in the near and long-term.
Read more ...20211006
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Mega trend 10: The democratization of longevity
Grande tendance 10 : La démocratisation de la longévité
AUTHORED BY SHANTEL ARIS, September 21, 2021
AUTEUR : SHANTEL ARIS, 21 septembre 2021
Life expectancy across the world has seen a dramatic increase since the 18th century. The emergence of preventative medicine and vaccines that minimized infant mortality, the agricultural and trade revolution, and the development of sanitation have all greatly contributed to the increase. This evolution of life expectancy had greater preponderance in developed countries.
Read more ...L’espérance de vie a connu une augmentation spectaculaire dans le monde depuis le XVIIIe siècle. L’émergence de la médecine préventive et des vaccins qui ont permis de réduire la mortalité infantile, la révolution agricole et commerciale et les progrès en matière d’hygiène ont largement contribué à cette augmentation. Cette évolution de l’espérance de vie a été plus marquée dans les pays développés.
Pour en savoir plus...20210921
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Mega trend 9: 30 really is the new 20 (for some people – determining who they are will become crucial for pension plans and insurers)
AUTHORED BY NIKIYA MARILLA, September 14, 2021
Should lifespan be determined by how many times you’ve circled the sun? Should we determine our age based on a linear equation of current year subtracted by year of birth? What if there was a way to determine age differently; a measurement that would be better at determining longevity and/or mortality? How could measuring age differently impact mortality assumptions for Pension Plans or even insurers?
Read more ...20210914
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VitaMins Health mRNA technology – a silver spike-protein lining?
September 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much devastation and disruption. But in the aftermath, are we now seeing a silver lining emerging in the form of mRNA technology?
Read more ...20210912
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Mega Trend 8: Big data grows up – from open banking, to open insurance, to open health
Grande tendance 8 : La croissance des mégadonnées – des systèmes bancaires ouverts, à l’assurance ouverte et la santé ouverte
AUTHORED BY SAEED AHMADI, August 20, 2021
AUTEUR : SAEED AHMADI, 20 août 2021
I can still remember the time when “floppy disks” with maximum capacity of 2.8 mega bites (MB) were popular: a term that some of you probably haven’t even heard of! Back in the 1970s, storage devices were not as advanced as they are today, and people relied on simple storage devices with limited capacity. Those times are now in the history books and as more data becomes available, more advanced storage devices (e.g., compact disks, DVDs, USB drives) have been introduced. Currently flash drives are available with 4TB capacity i.e., 4x106 MB. Je me souviens encore de l’époque où les disquettes d’une capacité maximale de 2,8 mégabits (Mbit) étaient en vogue; mégabit, un terme que certains d’entre vous n’ont probablement jamais entendu! Dans les années 1970, les périphériques de stockage n’étaient pas aussi évolués qu’aujourd’hui, et les gens se fiaient à de simples dispositifs de stockage offrant une capacité limitée. Cette époque est désormais révolue, et à mesure que les données sont devenues de plus en plus accessibles, des dispositifs supérieurs de stockage ont vu le jour (p. ex., les disques compacts, les DVD, les clés USB). Des disques à mémoire flash d’une capacité de 4 Tb sont maintenant disponibles, c’est-à-dire 4 x 106 Mbits. Read more ... Pour en savoir plus...
20210819
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Mega trend 7: wearable tech drives life expectancy increases
AUTHORED BY CONOR O’REILY, August 3, 2021
In our seventh mega trend blog, our UK colleague Conor O’Reilly explores how advances in wearable technology could lead to further increases in life expectancy in the future.
Read more ...20210803
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Mega trend 6: healthy life expectancy will increase at a quicker pace than life expectancy
Grande tendance 6 : L’espérance de vie en santé va augmenter plus rapidement que l’espérance de vie
AUTHORED BY FRANCE PANNETON, July 2021
AUTEUR : FRANCE PANNETON, juillet 2021
Before the pandemic put an end to group activities, the last part of my spinning class would consist of a series of stretches. Whenever the trainer would begin this section, I would pause and remember the wise advice of my physiotherapist “choose quality over quantity” and I would opt to do my own series of a smaller number of longer duration (higher quality) stretches. Avant que la pandémie mette fin aux activités de groupe, la dernière partie de mon cours de cardiovélo consistait en une série d’étirements. Lorsque l’entraîneur démarrait cette partie, je commençais par me souvenir du conseil judicieux de mon physiothérapeute, « Préférez la qualité à la quantité » et je décidais de faire ma propre série d’un petit nombre d’étirements de plus longue durée (pour une meilleure qualité). Read more ... Pour en savoir plus...
20210708
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Mega trend 5: Longevity risk will (is already) moving back to institutions from individuals
AUTHORED BY JENNIFER HAID, July 2021
For as long as I’ve been working in the retirement space, headline attention has been focused on the move from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution style arrangements and on the clawbacks applied to social security systems – along with personal savings, these are the three legs of the traditional retirement savings stool. This move creates greater choice and flexibility for the individual, while at the same time increases their responsibilities for managing future financial risks.
Read more ...20210705
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Mega trend 4: pension funds and insurers include longevity impact in climate risk management
AUTHORED BY MARK SHARKEY, June 2021
Does it take the experience of living through a 1 in 100-year pandemic to give us a true understanding of how systemic risks impact the world we live in?
Read more ...20210622
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VitaMins Health COVID-19 and cancer – prevention on pause?
VitaMines Santé : COVID-19 et cancer – La prévention au point mort?
AUTHORED BY ALON HALBRICH, June 2021
AUTEUR : ALON HALBRICH, juin 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives in many ways over the last 15 months (and counting!). As of June 15, 2021 there have been 176 million confirmed cases and 3.8 million deaths worldwide. The crisis has led to significant changes at hospitals, both for services offered and for patients’ willingness to visit. One area of particular importance is the reduction in the number of cancer screenings. La pandémie de COVID-19 a bouleversé des vies à bien des égards au cours des 15 derniers mois (et ce n’est pas fini!). En date du 15 juin 2021, on dénombrait 176 millions de cas confirmés et 3,8 millions de décès dans le monde. La crise a entraîné des changements importants dans les hôpitaux, tant sur le plan des services offerts que de la volonté des patients de s’y rendre. Un aspect sur lequel il vaut la peine de s’attarder est celui de la réduction du nombre de dépistages de cancer. Read more ...Pour en savoir plus...
20210621
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Mega Trend 3: Pension plans start treating longevity as a risk to manage rather than an assumption to get ‘right’
AUTHORED BY ERIK PICKETT, June 11, 2021
Read our third mega trend blog where Erik Pickett discusses the relationship between pension plans, longevity and risk.
Read more ...20210611
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Mega Trend 2: Longevity Becomes a Tradeable Commodity
AUTHORED BY NICK CHADWICK, June 1, 2021
I am sure that like me, many of you are looking forward to the delayed Euro 2020 football championships – that’s soccer for our American friends – which take place across Europe this June and July.
Read more ...20210601
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Mega Trend 1: UK longevity inequality will grow
AUTHORED BY DOUGLAS ANDERSON, May 24, 2021
Read our first mega trend blog where Douglas Anderson discusses UK longevity inequality.
Read more ...20210524
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COVID-19: Latest picture as of May 21, 2021 and how does Canada compare to the UK and the US ?
COVID-19 : Aperçu au 21 mai 2021 et quelle est la situation au Canada par rapport au Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis?
AUTHORED BY SHANTEL ARIS & FRANCE PANNETON, May 21, 2021
PAR SHANTEL ARIS ET FRANCE PANNETON, mai 21, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on mortality worldwide, making it an important research area for the Club Vita team. In this article we compare the current picture of the pandemic in Canada to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). We explore this in the context of the waves of the virus, the impact of vaccinations and the unknowns that could change the current outlook. Comme la pandémie de COVID-19 continue d’avoir des répercussions dévastatrices sur le taux de mortalité dans le monde, il s’agit d’un domaine de recherche important pour l’équipe de Club Vita. Dans cet article, nous comparons la situation pandémique actuelle au Canada à celles du Royaume-Uni et des États-Unis. Nous abordons cette question en tenant compte des vagues du virus, de l’incidence de la vaccination et de facteurs inconnus qui pourraient modifier le portrait actuel. Read more ...Pour en savoir plus...
20210521
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VitaMins Health Long COVID – in it for the long haul?
March 2021
In 2020 we witnessed many evolving and changing concepts relating to COVID-19, one of which is the long-term suffering of symptoms of the disease known as post-COVID-19 syndrome, Long COVID or Long Haul COVID.
Read more ...20210322
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COVID-19’s impact on Canadian mortality: the latest picture as of February 16th, 2021
AUTHORED BY SHANTEL ARIS & RICHARD BROWN, February 16, 2021
With the first month of 2021 well behind us and Statistics Canada releasing updated data last week regarding Canadian deaths during 2020, we wanted to provide an update on the impact the pandemic has had on Canadian mortality.
Read more ...20210216
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VitaMins Health: Physical activity – are you sitting comfortably?
December 2020
Sedentary lifestyles are on the rise. More and more people are sitting down on the commute, sitting down at work and sitting down for leisure.
Read more ...20201209
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Latest picture of COVID-19’s impact on Canadian mortality in 2020
AUTHORED BY RICHARD BROWN, December 4, 2020
As new cases of COVID-19 continue to climb across much of Canada, we wanted to share an update regarding the latest picture of the pandemic’s impact on Canadian mortality during 2020
Read more ...20201123
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VitaMins: Representativeness of data
October 2020
With most of the world still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention is now focused on the development of a safe and effective vaccine. Never in our memories have clinical trials received so many column inches and the subject of representativeness of sample data is top of many minds.
Read more ...20201007
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Introducing Club Vita Canada’s longevity map
July 2020
In 2020, we are more conscious than ever of our health. Wearing masks, keeping our distance and washing hands non-stop have become a part of our daily lives in a way that would have been inconceivable just months ago
Read more ...20200707
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VitaMins Health: Mental health – looking after body and mind
June 2020
It is widely accepted that the mind and body are closely interlinked. In this article we look at the link between mental and physical health patterns and how these may influence future longevity trends.
Read more ...20200618
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Has COVID-19 increased Canadian mortality?
AUTHORED BY RICHARD BROWN, May 8, 2020
Over the past two weeks Club Vita UK has put out a number of blogs detailing the devastating impact COVID-19 has had in the United Kingdom, resulting in a significant increase in UK deaths at an overall population level. The fact that detailed data regarding all UK deaths is available weekly (i.e., not just those due to COVID-19) has allowed a much better understanding of the severity of the pandemic in the UK, including the identification of COVID-19 deaths not captured in the official numbers.
Read more ...20200508
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VitaMins Health: Vitamin D– The “sunshine” vitamin
March 2020
Dietary sources of Vitamin D are limited, with around 90% of our usual intake coming from sunlight. Does our current lifestyle and diet through the winter months provide us with sufficient resources for a long and heathy life?
Read more ...20200303
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VitaMins Health: Getting clued-up on the flu
October 2019
Every year significantly more people die during the winter months than at other times of the year, and we have recently seen huge variability in ‘excess winter deaths’, potentially impacted by the severity of the flu.
Read more ...20191001
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Are Canadians continuing to live longer?
AUTHORED BY EUAN REID & RICHARD BROWN, July 26,2019
In May 2019, Statistics Canada reported that “Life expectancy stops increasing in Canada”, since, for the first time in more than forty years, Canadian life expectancy at birth (for both men and women) did not increase from 2016 to 2017. The Statistics Canada report stated that this trend change was “largely attributable to the opioid crisis”, especially “among Canadian men aged 20 to 44 years.” Despite this concerning development, life expectancy for Canadians aged 65 did continue to increase. Read more ...
20190626
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‘Til death do us part: does the 3-year rule always hold true?
AUTHORED BY ALON HALBRICH, May 22, 2019
For many members in defined benefit pension plans, monthly benefits are not only paid for as long as the retirees live, but also then paid to surviving spouses for as long as they live. Read more ...
20190522
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Feeling the heat?
AUTHORED BY EUAN REID, October 22, 2018
Last year, when I told my British friends and colleagues I was moving to Canada, the most common reaction (aside from “good riddance”) was “it’s cold there, isn’t it?”. They might have been shocked to learn of the very unfortunate reports that there were up to 70 deaths caused by the July heatwave in Quebec this year. Read more ...
20181022
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Quality of life: impacts on future longevity?
AUTHORED BY JENNIFER URQUHART, August 25, 2018
We often look at significant medical advances that extend life as likely contributors to further improvements in longevity. But, could additional improvements in both health and life expectancy also be gained through advances that enhance the quality of life for the elderly? Read more ...
20180825
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Why hedging logevity risk may be right for your plan (Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Dec 13, 2017)
Whether it's converting to defined contribution (DC) plans, evolving investment strategies, developing glide-paths or annuitizing inactive members, risk mitigation has become ingrained in the Canadian DB pension industry. But despite this evolution, there is one risk that hasn't yet received its fair share of attention: longevity risk.
Reprinted with permission from Benefits and Pensions Monitor.
20171213
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Key findings from Club Vita Canada's first annual study of defined benefit pensioner logevity
This research summary explores the key findings of Club Vita Canada's inaugural study of Canadian pensioner longevity.
20170601
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Increasing Lifespans: A Pension Plan’s True Longevity Risk (The Observer, 2017 Issue 1)
Increasing longevity is good news for the global population – but it’s a significant risk for pension plan sponsors, since how long people will live after retirement is a key determinant of a plan’s cost.
Reprinted with permission from the ACPM.
20170101
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How would a universal cancer vaccine affect Canadian pension plans? (June 2016)
The science journal Nature recently published a paper regarding the positive progress of scientists working on a universal cancer vaccine. If such a vaccine were ever created, it would obviously have immense implications—not the least of which is longer, healthier lives for Canadians.
20160601
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A Deeper Look at Longevity Risk (The Observer, 2016 Spring)
The average Canadian life span has increased dramatically over the past century. In fact, men in B.C. now enjoy a life expectancy in line with that of the longest lived OECD countries. Slowly but surely, the number of years Canadians spend in retirement and the number of years they spend at work have begun to equalize. But a longer retirement comes at a higher cost for defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors – and the heightened risk of individuals in defined contribution plans outliving their retirement savings. This means longevity risk should be understood, measured and managed better by pension plan sponsors.
Reprinted with permission from the ACPM.
20160401
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Where Canadians live may have a significant impact on how long they'll live (March 2016)
There’s an old actuarial joke in which someone finds himself treading water in the middle of a 10-foot-deep lake, after being told by an actuary that the lake was five feet deep on average. Averages can help you test the waters. But a proper understanding of your environment often requires a deeper dive.
20160301
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Do policies that encourage later retirement impact some workers more than others? (Feb 2016)
Rising life expectancies have led policymakers to prompt people to work more years, to better fund longer retirements. In particular, the normal retirement age for both Old Age Security in Canada and U.S. Social Security will gradually increase from 65 to 67 in the coming years. The U.K. has announced similar plans, and intends additional increases based on future improvements in life expectancy.
20160201