Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) working groups are currently working on the question of bias and how it is treated in the group’s Standards of Practice. Draft changes are currently underway, and the institute’s actuarial standards board has established a designated working group to develop recommendations.
To inform the work, the CIA has published its notice of intent, Bias considerations within Standards of Practice, Part 1000 – General Standards, asking for feedback on the proposed revisions, intended to provide more explicit guidance on bias considerations within actuarial work. “Currently the standards only generally address the topic of bias,” the notice states.
Simon Curtis, FCIA (Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries) and member of the actuarial standards board’s designated group on bias says the work is being done to ensure that the standards remain fit for purpose.
“As actuarial practice evolves in a world of big data, more and more complex data, and more complex models, we want to make sure that actuaries are very aware of how they need to be continuously looking at their work and engagement to make sure bias is not creeping in,” he says. “We have not seen anything in practice that would suggest to us that this should materially change actuarial practice. We’re anticipating that the changes are going to be relatively non-confrontational.”
Where an actuary’s rules of professional conduct govern personal bias and conflicts of interest, these are not what are being discussed or changed by the updates. The standards of practice instead govern cases where an actuary could be using biased data sets, models or techniques which could introduce bias into their analysis, something Curtis says historically hasn’t been a focus. “The standards right now don’t really say much about bias. They basically say when you’re using a best estimate, make sure the best estimate is free of bias. That’s what the standards currently say.”
He adds that the group is also working closely with the CIA’s designated working group on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in actuarial practice. The notice also indicates that the CIA’s other working groups, including the CIA’s valuation committee along with its life, pension plan and property and casualty financial reporting committees, will also be consulted.
Stakeholders are asked to submit their comments to the CIA by October 15, 2026. The standards board says it aims to publish an exposure draft by January 31, 2027, with the final standards to be effective no later than May 1, 2027.
