Fall Symposium Event Handbook
From Scaffolding to Concrete Structures: Building Canada’s Retirement Research Infrastructure
Since launching the Pension Centre of Excellence (PCE) IN 2025, the PCE has been working together to build what Canada has long needed: a dedicated, academically grounded, non-partisan national research institute focused on strengthening the retirement financial security of Canadians.
In just a few short months, the team has made remarkable progress toward establishing the research infrastructure, collaborative networks, and national dialogue required to tackle the complex challenges ahead. Your commitment has been the linchpin of these early successes. From pension plans and policymakers to researchers, service providers, and industry leaders, sector leaders have come together with a shared purpose.
This Fall Symposium marks an important moment in our journey. It is more than a gathering; it is a living component of a dynamic platform for knowledge creation and exchange. What begins here does not end here. Insights shape our research agenda, and that research, in turn, informs policy and practice across the country. This integrated model—linking evidence, expertise, and lived experience—is what sets the PCE apart. From hosting our inaugural Symposium in June 2025, to launching tools like the Cost of Ageing Calculator, to releasing our first publication, to preparing for our second National Pension Awareness Week in February 2026, the PCE is laying the essential foundations needed to produce world-class research that drives meaningful change.
This symposium focuses on closing long-standing gaps in data, tools, capacity, and coordination, and developing solutions that will support a more financially secure and dignified retirement for all Canadians.
