About Us

• Mitch Frazer founds the  Pension Innovation and Research Centre (PIRC) at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson).
  
• The PIRC focuses on financial wellness, pension literacy and retirement policy innovation.
  
• Under the leadership of Stephanie Woodward, initial partnerships are formed with pension and financial institutions.
  
• Dr. Samir Sinha joins the advisory team, expanding the vision from pensions to include health and ageing policy — paving the way for the NIA.

• The National Institute on Ageing is officially launched on February 22, 2016
  
• Toronto is announced as a member of the WHO’s Age-Friendly Cities Network.
  
• The National Seniors Strategy becomes the founding policy framework, built on four pillars:
  • Independent, productive and engaged citizens
  • Healthy and active lives
  • Care closer to home
  • Support for caregivers
    
• The NIA hosts WHO and World Economic Forum workshops on ageing policy.

• The Ontario Gerontology Association dissolves and transfers its assets and legacy to the NIA.
  
• Michael Nicin becomes Executive Director, bringing experience from Ontario’s Seniors Affairs ministry and the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.
  
• The NIA hosts its first “Envisioning Ageing in Place” conference.
  
• Dr. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald was appointed the NIA’s first Senior Research Fellow in October 2017. Her groundbreaking work on retirement income adequacy and health system sustainability helped strengthen the NIA’s national leadership on financial security and ageing policy.
  
• Building on the NIA’s National Seniors Strategy, which calls for coordinated federal, provincial, and local action to meet the needs of an ageing population, Ontario introduced a $155 million Action Plan for Seniors. The NIA welcomed this important step toward improving care, housing and community supports for older Ontarians.

• The NIA led a national campaign advocating for Variable Payment Life Annuities (VPLAs), uniting pension experts, academics, and industry leaders to urge federal action. This effort helped secure the 2019 Budget commitment, enabling VPLAs within defined contribution and pooled registered pension plans, which are now being implemented across jurisdictions.
  
• The NIA’s evidence-informed advocacy for equitable vaccine access helped shape major policy changes in both provinces. Ontario began publicly funding enhanced influenza vaccines for older adults and Nova Scotia purchased additional doses for long-term care residents—improving protection for thousands of older Canadians and demonstrating how research-driven advocacy leads to measurable public health impact.
  
• Following the NIA’s long-standing call through the National Seniors Strategy and its Working Caregiver report, governments took action to strengthen caregiver support. In March 2018, Nova Scotia expanded eligibility for its Caregiver Benefit and Ontario announced a $35 million investment to support caregivers of people with mental health and addiction challenges.
  
• TMU joins the Age-Friendly University Global Network at the IFA Global Conference on Ageing, co-hosted by the NIA.
  
• Research publications expand into health prevention and financial literacy.

• The NIA’s research informs federal policy:
  
  • Longevity risk pooling was adopted by the federal government in Budget 2019.
    
  • Advocacy contributes to CPP/QPP and OAS enhancements.
    
• The NIA participates in the Canada–UK Colloquium on Ageing at Cambridge University.
  
• Publication of major papers on long-term care, pension coverage and healthy ageing economics.
  
• NIA publishes the first comprehensive nationwide long-term projection of publicly-funded long-term care costs across Canada, figures that are later adopted by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, among others.
  
• NIA urges action on low pneumonia vaccination rates and calls for stronger awareness, pharmacist access and mandatory vaccination in long-term care to prevent avoidable deaths in a new report.

• NIA amplified its long-standing call for greater recognition and support for unpaid caregivers. The federal government responded with the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), providing up to 44 weeks of income support for employed and self-employed Canadians who had to care for children or family members affected by COVID-19 disruptions—reflecting a key policy shift toward valuing caregiving as essential work.
  
• NIA releases guidance report to safely reopen long-term care homes to families. The report called for a risk-balanced approach that recognized family caregivers as essential partners in care and warned that overly restrictive visitor policies were causing serious harm to residents’ health, well-being and quality of life.
  
• NIA launches Canada’s first COVID-19 Long-Term Care Tracking Map, providing the first comprehensive national overview of outbreaks in nursing and retirement homes. Updated daily, the tracker filled a critical data gap during the pandemic, helping families, care providers and policymakers respond to the crisis and laying the groundwork for future reforms in long-term care policy.
  
• Launch of My COVID-19 Visit Risk Calculator, a free online tool designed to help individuals quickly assess their personal risk of contracting COVID-19 during social gatherings.
  
• The NIA publishes the “Iron Ring” and “Titanium Ring” guidance papers for protecting older adults in long-term care.
  
• Launch of the first “Pandemic Perspectives on Ageing in Canada” survey.
  
• Policy proposals, such as Virtual Long-Term Care @ Home, lay the groundwork for post-pandemic home care innovation.
  

• NIA research informs the Health Standards Organization’s National Long-Term Care Standard development.
  
• Publications address vaccination, loneliness, caregiver burden and the financial realities of ageing in place.
  
• The NIA continues its leadership role in national pandemic recovery dialogues and LTC reform.
  
• NIA’s COVID-19 Visit Risk tool gains global attention (and breaks under traffic surge). A New York Times article titled “Going Out and Worried About Covid Safety? There’s a Calculator for That” spotlighted the NIA’s COVID-19 Visit Risk Decision Aid, driving thousands of new users to the site. The surge in demand stressed and temporarily disabled the tool, underscoring both the public appetite for evidence-based risk tools and the challenges of scalable digital infrastructure.

• The NIA releases groundbreaking reports on:
  
  • Social Isolation and Loneliness (with RTOERO)
    
  • 2SLGBTQI Ageing and Dementia Care (with Egale Canada)
    
• The NIA’s publication Affordable Lifetime Pension Income for a Better Tomorrow coins the term “Dynamic Pensions,” serving as a foundational document for Canada’s implementation efforts and earning the 2021 Policy Innovation Award from Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives.
  
• MP Kirsty Duncan opened the debate on Motion 45, building on NIA research on the retirement financial security of older Canadians. The motion passed on June 15, 2022, leading to a Parliamentary report on RRIFs and withdrawal requirements, with NIA contributions.
  
• The NIA pauses its LTC Tracker after two years and launches new public resources:
  • National Resource Centre on 2SLGBTQI Ageing
    
  • Multilingual Guide to Vaccines for Older Canadians

Health Partnership Summit: Accelerating Out of the Bend Post COVID-19

• NIA and C.D. Howe Institute co-host the Health Partnership Summit (HPS) in Niagara-on-the-Lake, bringing together senior executives, policymakers, and healthcare leaders from Canada and abroad.
  
• Executive leadership transitions to Alyssa Brierley
  
• Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson named Honorary Chair of the NIA
  
• NIA launches the Ageing in Canada Survey, the first edition of the Ageing in Canada Survey—a landmark national study tracking the experiences, expectations and well-being of Canadians aged 50 and older over the next decade.

• The NIA wins the 2023 Hunter Prize for Public Policy for its “Virtual Long-Term Care @ Home” proposal.
• NIA provides nuanced insights on Alberta’s announcement to explore separation from the CPP, offering a new perspective that gained wide national attention across media and policymaking circles.
• Expands research under the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing.
• Publishes major works on:
  • Estate planning and financial security
  • Long-term care reform and health system comparisons
  • Ageing in Australia and Canada’s opioid crisis
• Launches planning for a refreshed strategic plan and impact framework
• Dr. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald invited to provide expert testimony for the Assemblée nationale du Québec regarding proposed reforms to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

• The NIA undertakes a comprehensive visioning exercise, reaffirming its mission:
  
• First Publication of 7 Steps Toward Better CPP/QPP Claiming Decisions, an eight-part educational series supporting better pension decisions.
  
• Key reports released on health care access, pensions, veterans’ ageing and social inclusion.
  
• Dr. Samir Sinha pursues an AMS Healthcare Fellowship as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI.
  
• NIA receives transformative gifts from the Slaight Family Foundation and the Waltons Trust which allowed the NIA to build a new policy team as well as expand its research on dementia and care.

• Launch of the Pension Centre of Excellence (PCE) — Canada’s first national platform for pension research, with over 30 founding major member organizations representing pension plans, policymakers, regulators, industry associations, and academic experts from across the country.
  
• Launch of National Pension Awareness Week, advancing informed dialogue on retirement income security (the Tuesday following Family Day in February).
  
  • Bob Baldwin receives the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the PCE for his contributions to pension policy.
    
• Mark Hazelden appointed Interim Executive Director of the NIA.
  
• Releases policy paper: Let Poor Older Adults Work, recommending improvements to the GIS earnings exemption.
  
• National pan Canadian outreach tour with community-based seniors’ organizations, sharing regional insights from the Ageing in Canada Survey.
  
• NIA addresses the United Nations 2025 High-Level Political Forum presenting findings on economic insecurity among older women from NIA Ageing in Canada Survey.
  
• NIA submits six key recommendations for Budget 2025, focused on financial security, healthy ageing and equitable vaccine access.
  
• Launch of Small Steps Big Difference, a national public education campaign on brain health.
  
• The State of Dementia in Canada report, calling for prevention-focused national dementia strategies.
  
• NIA delivers presentations and keynote address at the International Federation on Ageing Global Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
  
• NIA proposes the Pension Delay Guarantee (formerly titled the Pension-Back Death Benefit) to the Canada and Québec Pension Plans (CPP/QPP) to improve retirement income security. This reform would reimburse estates when someone dies after delaying their pension, ensuring fairness and reducing the fear of “losing money” by waiting to claim.