Longevity stops being a social issue and becomes a growth market
By the early 2030s, a Canadian born today has a material probability of living past 100. That shift touches every balance sheet: labour force participation, pension solvency, housing, healthcare delivery, consumer products, and insurance design. The macro question isn’t how to pay for longevity—it’s how to monetize longer, healthier lives while managing intergenerational equity.
| Indicator | 2000 | 2025 | 2040 (proj.) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth (years) | 79 | 82 | 84–86 | Statistics Canada, OECD |
| 65+ share of population | 12% | 22% | 26% | Statistics Canada |
| Labour force participation 65–74 | 12% | 20% | 24% | StatsCan LFS |
| Health spend (% GDP) | 9.3% | 12.5% | 13–14% | CIHI scenarios |
Where demand will surge
Longevity creates decade-long demand arcs: prevention and wellness, orthopedic and cardiac services, home and community care tech, barrier-free housing retrofits, and financial products that hedge longevity risk. Consumer categories (travel, education, fitness, nutrition) will skew toward quality and accessibility rather than age brackets.
Financing the longevity dividend
Traditional retirement at 65 is economically inconsistent with 30+ years of post-work life. Expect phased retirement, lifelong learning credits, portable pensions, and annuity-like investment wrappers. Municipalities will chase age-friendly growth: transit redesign, 15-minute community footprints, and housing codes that support multi-generational living.
What leaders can do
- Build long-horizon product ladders: design service tiers for 60s, 70s, 80s+.
- Treat healthy lifespan as a KPI: link benefits to prevention, screening, and digital therapeutics.
- Redesign jobs for longevity: phased work, mentorship tracks, ergonomics that extend productive years.
- Create “longevity bundles”: finance + home retrofits + care navigation under one brand.
- Shift actuarial models: integrate longevity risk hedges into pension and insurance portfolios.
Arcus Insight: Longevity is growth if productivity keeps pace. Winners will convert added years into added value—by engineering healthier, longer, revenue-rich customer relationships.