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In March 2026, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) released the CPM 2024 mortality tables, marking the first update to Canadian pensioner base mortality tables in over a decade. Combined with the MI 2024 mortality improvement scale released in 2024, these updates warrant careful consideration for all sponsors of pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) plans. This is the ideal time for plan sponsors to step back and consider the assumptions underlying their retirement and OPEB programs and the impact on their broader risk management frameworks.
What's changed: the new base mortality tables
The CPM 2024 tables represent a substantial enhancement over their predecessors. The new research is built on a materially larger dataset, analyzing approximately 330,000 deaths across 11.4 million life-years of exposures from 2011 to 2021, compared to roughly 100,000 deaths and 3.6 million life-years of exposures in the CPM 2014 study. This expanded dataset provides greater statistical credibility.
The structure of the tables has also evolved. The CPM 2014 tables distinguished between private-sector and public-sector pension plans, but the latest research determined that once other demographic factors are considered, the public/private distinction is not a primary driver of mortality differences. The CPM 2024 framework instead classifies mortality expectations using a heavy/combined/light hierarchy, allowing plans to select a table that better reflects their membership characteristics. The pension size adjustment factors provided with CPM 2014 are also gone.
One notable new feature is the inclusion of dedicated surviving spouse tables. CPM 2014 did not provide separate mortality assumptions for surviving spouses in receipt of benefits, an important enhancement that is now available for valuing survivor pensions.
Lastly, the CIA is providing CPM 2024 tables on both a pension and lives weighted basis, the latter suitable for use in the valuation of OPEB plans.
Understanding mortality improvements
While base mortality tables capture current life expectancy, they represent only a snapshot in time. To construct a complete picture of expected longevity, plans must also incorporate mortality improvement assumptions—estimates of how life expectancy will change in the future.
Released in early 2024, the MI 2024 improvement scale differs meaningfully from its commonly used predecessor, the CPM-B improvement scale. MI 2024 is based on more recent data spanning 1980 to 2019 and employs data-driven stochastic modeling rather than relying heavily on expert judgment. Most significantly, the ultimate long-term mortality improvement rate under MI 2024 is 1.3% per annum for ages 40–90, compared to 0.8% under CPM-B which is a substantial assumption change. While higher, the long-term improvement rate is lower than improvement rates observed among Canadian pensioners during the first 20 years of the 21st century.
For a person age 65, the new improvement scales translate to approximately one additional year of future life expectancy when comparing MI 2024 to CPMB. On a liability basis, adopting MI 2024 generally increases annuity factors by 2 to 4% depending on age and gender.
Commuted value standard changes
The CIA’s Actuarial Standards Board recently proposed updating commuted value standards to incorporate CPM 2024 and MI 2024. The shift from CPM 2014 combined with CPMB to CPM 2024 with MI 2024 may have meaningful implications for plan liabilities and, for some plans, funding requirements. Preliminary analysis suggests non-indexed annuity factors could increase by 2–4%, with the effective date of the changes targeted for February 2027. Submissions on the initial communication of the proposal close on July 15, 2026, followed by a final communication and February 1, 2027, anticipated effective date.
For plan sponsors, this means members electing commuted values may receive higher lump sum payments, and pension plan liabilities will likely increase upon adoption of the new assumptions. While the specific impact varies by plan, the impacts for some plans may be material.
Selecting the right assumptions for your plan
In its recent mortality assumption Educational Note update, the CIA emphasizes that assumption selection requires actuarial judgment and should reflect recent experience and trends specific to each plan. There is no single standard assumption that applies to all plans.
The assumption selection process begins with a mortality analysis grounded in the plan's membership and experience. Larger plans may conduct an experience study comparing actual mortality outcomes to standard tables, yielding adjustment factors. Smaller plans or those with limited experience can use multi-factor mortality models that assess individual characteristics, age, gender, pension amount, geographic location, and socioeconomic indicators, to predict tailored life expectancy.
These tools are far more sophisticated than those available a decade ago. Rather than applying a standard assumption across the membership, plans can now develop more granular, evidence-based assumptions that better reflect their specific population.
An ideal opportunity for a full assumption review
While mortality assumptions are one of the most important demographic assumptions, they are by no means the only material demographic assumption. In recent years, many plans have observed delayed retirements and peaks in turnover rates, particularly among younger cohorts. Now is an excellent time to review other demographic assumptions to ensure that all assumptions continue to reflect the best estimate of the future.
Incorporating longevity into your holistic rick management framework
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) emphasized the importance of holistic risk management in Guideline 10, which explicitly includes longevity risk as a domain requiring identification, evaluation, management, and monitoring.
Plan sponsors should consider completing additional analysis of the risk's longevity poses to the sustainability of their plans and documenting how they are managing longevity risk within their plans.
What comes next
We expect that most plan sponsors will adopt CPM 2024 and MI 2024 as their mortality assumptions within the next two to three years. The CIA’s Actuarial Standards Board's proposed updates to commuted value standards reinforce this belief.
Plan sponsors should engage their actuaries now to evaluate the impact on their specific plans. A mortality analysis using plan experience and/or predictive models will provide a defensible, tailored basis for assumption selection, supporting both funding decisions and broader risk management.
The release of CPM 2024 and MI 2024 represents the culmination of the largest study of pension longevity in the CIA’s history. It represents an evolution in how the actuarial profession measures and projects longevity, informed by a decade of additional Canadian pension data and new analytical capabilities. Plan sponsors who engage thoughtfully will be well-positioned to make informed decisions about impact of these new tables on their pension plans.
Gavin Benjamin
Partner, Retirement & Benefits Solutions, TELUS Health
Michael Reid
Partner, Retirement & Benefits Solutions, TELUS Health
Étienne Bazin
Principal, Retirement & Benefits Solutions, TELUS Health