As noted by Eckler Ltd. in a recent post, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) has released 2024 Canadian Pension Mortaility (CPM2024) tables, expected to replace the CPM2014 tables, reflecting more recent pensioner mortality experience in Canada.
They note that key changes include new “heavy” and “light” tables based on occupation, rather than the previous public and private sector distinctions. The new release also includes new survivor tables for spouses.
“Analysis will likely be needed to adjust the mortality assumption for pension and benefits plans and determine the associated impact, which will vary significantly depending on plans’ current mortality assumption and the demographic characteristics of the plan,” Eckler points out in its recent note, Out with the old, in with the new… Canadian mortality tables.
First released in the CIA’s 2026 Report, the new tables are based on a broader cross-section of Canadian pension plans, incorporating approximately three times the volume of experience data used in the CPM2014 tables, Eckler adds.
Heavy tables are based on data from plans with a high number of members engaged in heavy manual labour, while light tables are based on plans predominantly made up of white-collar occupations. Eckler says one of the most notable innovations in the 2024 tables, however, is the introduction of separate mortality tables for surviving spouses which reflect the higher mortality sometimes observed following the death of a retiree.
Eckler says with the removal of the public or private distinction, in favour of heavy and light data tables, actuaries must now focus more directly on the nature of the work performed by plan members. “Applying a single table to all members may require subjective judgement,” they warn. They also warn that survivor tables should only be applied after the death of the first spouse. “Using them earlier may understate liabilities. Using non-specific, ‘regular’ survivor tables remains acceptable, though liabilities may be modestly overstated.”
Development efforts
The CIA says the primary users of this work are pension actuaries in the Canadian pension sector, who use the tables to inform mortality expectation assumptions. “Developing plan-specific mortality tables requires large, credible datasets, which most Canadian pension plans do not have. As a result, actuaries depend on industry research like CPM2024 as a statistically robust foundation, which they then adjust, where appropriate, to reflect the characteristics of a given plan,” the CIA stated in a note to the Insurance Portal in response to an inquiry about the new data.
In terms of what practitioners may observe, they say the effect of adopting CPM2024 will depend on the assumptions previously in use.
“Based on the research analysis, changes in life expectancy and annuity factors vary by age and are sensitive to both the base mortality table and the assumed future mortality improvements. The updated tables are expected to result in a moderate increase in pension liabilities, particularly for older plan members, relative to prior industry tables such as CPM2014,” the CIA writes. “The impact on pension plans will vary based on the plan characteristics, as well as whether any changes are made to expectations of how mortality will evolve over time.”
They add that the research will not have any immediate implications on the administration of pension plans. “The mortality table that is used for the purposes of the determination of lump sum commuted values are prescribed by the CIA’s Actuarial Standards Board,” they add. “At this time, these standards have not been revised to reflect the new mortality research.”
