The Chair, a partnership between the CIRANO, Retraite Québec, iA Financial Group, UQAM, Université Laval and HEC Montréal that began in 2014, originally had the name Industrial Alliance Research Chair on the Economics of Demographic Change. Entering a second five-year term in 2019, the Chair continues its work thanks to the renewal of its collaboration with the CIRANO, Retraite Québec, UQAM and HEC Montréal.

Chairholders Raquel Fonseca (ESG UQAM) and Pierre-Carl Michaud (HEC Montréal) take the opportunity to strategically reposition the Chair and adopt a new title, namely, Research Chair in Intergenerational Economics. Preserving the same DNA, the work of the Chair is organized around 3 axes – retirement and savings, health, labour market – identified as priorities and transversal to the intergenerational economic issues of demographic transitions.

The Chair contributes to advancing scientific knowledge and providing decision-makers with insightful analyses of the intergenerational economic issues related to demographic change.

Expertise | Relevance | Ethics | Collaboration

Under the co-supervision of professors Raquel Fonseca de ESG UQAM and Pierre-Carl Michaud of HEC Montréal, the work of the Chair relies on the expertise of several professors whose work in public economy, human resource economics, and economics of aging and health is recognized worldwide for their rigour and relevance.

The research program of the Chair is based notably on simulation models built by the team to analyze, over several decades, the distribution of living conditions and certain behaviors of individuals. These models offer, over time, the possibility of prospectively simulating the sensitivity of different economic policies and macroeconomic and demographic conditions. This unique expertise makes it possible to understand and project the behavior of families and individuals in an economically coherent manner and to understand the effects on private and social well-being.

Measure # 1: Analyze and document the prospective effect of demographic transitions on the community in relation to the standard of living, health of the population as well as on private and public finances in Quebec and Canada.

Measure # 2: Understand the impact of demographic transitions on individual work-related, retirement and saving behaviors and on the use of health care and long-term care.

Measure # 1: Analyze public as well as private policies and programs that can mitigate the adverse effects of demographic changes and ensure the quality of life of Quebecers and Canadians.

Measure # 2: Evaluate the opportunity cost of public spending choices in key state missions, including health, education, family, and immigration to better quantify their interests while taking into account fiscal and economic constraints

Measure # 1: Collaborate with stakeholders in the scientific community and the public and private sectors.

Measure # 2: Organize, participate in and nurture various types of academic, public and media activities for the transfer and dissemination of knowledge.

Measure # 3: Provide partners/collaborators with technical tools as well as training to facilitate their use.

Measure # 1: Train graduate students in the analysis of economic behavior, standard of living, health, and personal and public finances.

Measure # 2: Support students during their program through job opportunities at the Chair or internships, as well as a mentoring approach to foster their socio-professional integration into the labor market.