Our Reports.
Aging Canada 2040: Policy Implications of Demographic Change
By 2040, it is projected that 22.7% of Canada’s population will be over 65 years of age, up from 17.6% in 2019. Canada's aging population poses significant challenges and opportunities for health & well-being, homes & living arrangements, relationships & belonging, economy & finances, leadership & decision making and many others. While Canada is not alone in this demographic shift, there are a wide range of policy implications associated with these population dynamics. To better understand these implications, Creative Futures teamed up with the CSA Public Policy Centre to conduct a future-focused research project on aging in Canada, exploring future possibilities and implications.
Career Development in 2040: Preparing for Possible Scenarios of Work and Careers
Looking forward to 2040, what might be the role of career developers? Will “careers” as they are currently conceptualized exist in the same way, or how might they evolve given current macro-level changes impacting jobs and the way we work? The Career Development in 2040 research series explores how major changes may shape work and career development by 2040, and what that might mean for career development professionals. The purpose of this final report is to help career development professionals prepare for a range of possible futures facing their profession. This research project is funded by CERIC.
Career Development in 2040: 10 Major Changes Impacting the Futures of Work and Workers in Canada
Looking forward to 2040, what might be the role of career developers? Will “careers” as they are currently conceptualized exist in the same way, or how might they evolve given current macro-level changes impacting jobs and the way we work? Career Development in 2040 explores these significant changes with the potential to shape career development in 2040. The purpose of this report is to explore a range of complex changes that may influence career development and career-oriented services by 2040, to help Career Development Professionals (CDPs) better prepare. This research project is funded by CERIC.
Open Scan: Bill 23 Edition
Ontario’s Bill 23 is all about housing, with a stated goal of creating 1.5 million new homes by 2031. However, its future impact is much broader than housing alone, with the potential to impact population health, community cohesion, municipal governance, and much more.
On December 20, 2022, Creative Futures hosted Open Scan: Ontario Bill 23 Special Edition to bring individuals from the private, public and non-profit sectors together to explore the future implications of Bill 23. Learn about the range of possible futures they identified that may unfold by 2040.
Strategic Foresight & the Future of Prairie-Based Theatre
What might prairie-based theatre look like in 2040? This report outlines a participatory process completed with prairie-based performing artists to explore four possible futures, and identify a shared vision for the future. Using this vision, a range of actions were identified, creating the momentum needed to shift from the status quo. This research was a collaboration between Creative Futures and researchers at the University of Calgary and the University of Regina.
More than Four Walls
The strongest voices in new housing developments are often those whose needs are already met by current housing solutions. So, what about those whose needs aren’t met? More than Four Walls presents an overview of insights and aspirations shared by youth, newcomers and older adults on their future housing needs. These insights were captured from sessions held in 2022 as part of Evergreen’s My Future Home Forum program. Facilitated by Creative Futures and Harbingers, the focus of the series was to engage youth, newcomers and older adults to share their individual lived experience and insights, a personal perspective often not integrated into housing policy decisions.
Embracing our future
In 2030, will co-leadership models be the new normal for public and nonprofit sector organizations? Or is it possible that we will have no leaders at all?
Across Canada, leadership philosophies are evolving, responding to tremendous changes happening globally and locally. To better understand these emerging changes, and what they could mean for leadership approaches in 2030, Creative Futures and the Leadership Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University collaborated on a new research project exploring the futures of social purpose leadership.
Canadian Cities in 2040
What are the broad range of changes municipal innovators are contending with today, and what might they mean for the future of cities in 10-20 years? To explore this question, Creative Futures launched the inaugural cohort of Open Scan in April 2022.
The purpose of this program is to build the foresight capacity of municipal innovators to enable future-focused decision-making. As part of this program, each week participants identified emerging changes with the potential to impact the future of cities in 2040. These signals of change were collected over a two-month period and are presented in Canadian Cities in 2040.
Ground Control to LMI
Employment in 2030 Action Labs is the bookend of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship’s Employment in 2030 initiative. Over the course of 18 months, Action Labs explored how to translate labour market information into tangible solutions that could help workers prepare for their future.
This report provides an overview of key insights gleaned from our research process, a set of considerations for organizations generating LMI, along with some bold ideas about how we think LMI should be redesigned to meet the needs of workers.
Yesterday’s Gone
Yesterday’s Gone identifies eight megatrends and 34 related meso trends with the potential to impact employment in Canada by 2030. As part of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship’s Action Labs project, the goal of this research is to explore these technological, social, economic, environmental and political changes and to inform the design of skills-demand programs and policy responses. The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new uncertainties about our future trajectories. Imaginative and exploratory thinking can help leaders consider the broad range of potential challenges around the corner—and prepare for what is to come.
Unlocking Our Urban Futures
It is estimated that $11-$22 trillion will be invested in infrastructure and real estate over the next 50 years in Canada. To maximize the impact of this investment, it is critical that we understand the changing needs of our cities, and how to make future-ready investment decisions today. With this in mind, Evergreen launched Our Urban Futures, to explore a new approach to long-term infrastructure and real estate planning using strategic foresight tools. Given the value of this approach, Creative Futures worked with Evergreen to translate this process into a model that can be replicated and scaled to additional jurisdictions.
Our latest thinking
We are constantly learning and reflecting on how the future is being shaped. When we have time, we like to write about our reflections and share it with the world for reaction.