Convening in Montebello, QC, Canada
Conference Summary (PDF)
Executive summary
This conference was designed to bring together different perspectives on demography within developed economies, with the intention of exploring this topic across disciplines and areas of expertise. It addressed the philosophical challenges, the implications for policy governance and for the economic models of these countries.
Participants began by outlining the positive circumstances that led to demographic decline; a society that lives longer and in which women take part in the public sphere on equal footing to men is something to be celebrated. While considering the challenges we face today, participants noted that it was crucial to remember this fact. Living longer, however, was seen to be too limited a goal. The aim must be to live healthier for longer, a process that begins far sooner than the last stage of life. Indeed, some participants questioned the life stage model – learn, earn, return – that societies have depended on. This shift in the structure of our lives forced participants to confront difficult questions, such as: what do we want our lives and societies to look like? Participants also doubted the ability of governments to address the challenges of demographic decline, given the short-term cycles of governance, and the refusal to admit to the difficult trade-offs that might be necessary.
The conference explored three potential solutions: technology, migration and community. Technology has the ability not only to increase our longevity, but also potentially to take on some of the burden of care and community building. However, participants were wary of the market’s ability to consider the ethical implications of newly developing technology and encouraged governments to step in to provide ethical guardrails. There was also concern over increasing digital inequality, due to the twin challenges of access and literacy.
With regard to migration, participants emphasised that it was not a silver bullet, and that migration comes at a high cost. Financially, the cost of integration is high, and politically, some feel alienated from the mainstream politics of migration, turning to populist rhetoric. Participants acknowledged a difference between high- and low-skilled migration, but concluded that both were needed. Some considered alternative approaches to filling skills gaps, while others identified that the challenge of reskilling is not limited to migration, with the green transition and the digital revolution requiring similar solutions. Geographically, climate change and increasing geopolitical instability may increase the burden on industrialised economies, and detailed planning for housing, healthcare and civic identity should be developed.
Overall, community building was seen as the most promising solution. Developing resilient, intergenerational, and local communities could be an effective response, it was judged, to challenges to the intergenerational social contract and loneliness, although there was a perception that governments were not the best agencies to take up this challenge.
Participants identified five intersections of demographic decline with existing policy challenges: housing, health, pensions, economics and defence. In all these sectors, demographic decline was seen to exacerbate existing challenges.
People
Chaired by former Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau, the conference included participants at different points of life from students to retirees, and from different disciplines, including academics, policy makers, pension fund managers, economists and journalists. Representatives from The World Bank, the WTO and BlackRock offered international perspectives, while individuals from the Canadian, American and British governments and banking systems offered national views. Domain expertise was contributed by the Wilson Centre, Oxford University and other research institutes on ageing.
This summary reflects personal impressions of the conference. No participant is in any way committed to its content or expression.
Participants
Ms Aikedan Ainiwaer
DPhil Student, University of Oxford
Ms Tatheer Ali
Advisor, The World Bank Group
Ms Nancy Altman J.D.
President, Social Security Works
Mr Joe Angelelli
Mr Anil Arora
Mr James Arroyo OBE
Director, The Ditchley Foundation
Dr Meghan Benton
Director, International Program, Migration Policy Institute
Jean Boivin PhD
Head of BlackRock Investment Institute, BlackRock Investment Institute
Dr Darrell Bricker
Global CEO, Public Affairs, IPSOS
Ms Talia Bronstein
Director of Policy, National Institute on Ageing
Mrs Celine Chiovitti CEBS
Chief Pension Officer, OMERS
Mr George Cooper CM KC
Member of the Board of Directors, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation
Ms Martha Deevy
Senior Research Scholar, Associate Director, Stanford University
Ms Jennifer Ditchburn
President and CEO, Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP)
Ambassador (Retd) Kathleen Doherty
Chief Strategy Officer, Annenberg Foundation Trust
Ms Shihoko Goto
Director, Indo-Pacific Program, The Wilson Center
Dr Jerrold D Green
President and CEO, Pacific Council on International Policy
Mr Arjun Gupta
Treasurer, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation
Mr John Hancock
Head, Policy Development, World Trade Organisation
Ms Inaya Folarin Iman
Senior Consultant, Civic Future (UK)
Mr John K Irving
President, Ocean Capital Holdings
Mr Stephen Johnston
Fellow, Healthy Longevity, SOMPO Digital Lab
Ms Lisa Lalande
Chief Executive Officer, Century Initiative
Mr Chauncy Lennon PhD
Vice President of Learning and Work, Lumina Foundation
Mr Nick Leswick
Executive Director, Policy, Bank of Canada
Mr Pierre Lortie CM FCAE
Senior Business Advisor, Dentons Canada LLP, Member of the Board of Directors, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation
Mr Mario Marazziti
Head, Institutional & International Relationships, Community of Sant’Egidio, Grande Foundation
Mr Don McCutchan
Member of the Board of Directors, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation
Professor Melinda Mills MBE FBA
Director, Leverhulme Centre Demographic Science, Nuffield College
Ms Anne Montgomery MS
Senior Advisor, National Commerce to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
The Hon Bill Morneau
Former Minister of Finance of Canada
Ms Tolu Olubunmi
CEO, Lions Write
Ms Ninjeri Pandit
Director, No. 10 Policy Unit, The Prime Minister’s Office
Ms Mireille Paquet PhD
Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration, Concordia University
Dr Susan C Reinhard
Senior Vice President, AARP Public Policy Institute
Mr David R Riemer
Senior Fellow, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute
Mr Mike Schofield
SVP, Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer, Sunlife Canada
Mr Timothy Shortill
Chief Operating Officer
Ms Sonia Sodha
Columnist and chief leader writer, The Observer
Mr John Stackhouse
Senior Vice President, Office of the CEO, Royal Bank of Canada
Mr Douglas E Turnbull
Vice Chairman – Country Head, Canada, DBRS Morningstar, Member of the Board of Directors, The Ditchley Foundation
Mr Ray Williams ICD.D
Member of the Board of Directors, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation
The Hon Yuen Paul Woo
Senator for British Columbia, The Senate of Canada, Member of the Board of Directors, The Canadian Ditchley Foundation