Themes and Vision

Climate change

It’s already happening and will feature prominently in Canada’s future. What are the impacts of climate change on individuals and communities? What questions need to be asked to help get us to a better future? How will climate change affect society, culture, and the economy?

Rapid technological advancement

Rapid technological development allows increased access to knowledge, flexibility, and democratic innovation, while creating new challenges at the same time. How does technology impact Canada’s possible futures?

Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has set Canada on a new course. Social isolation, inequities in healthcare and education, and other issues arising from the pandemic have revealed systemic failures in stark ways. What are the lessons of the pandemic and how has the pandemic shifted Canada to new paths?

Challenge of reconciliation

Facing Canada’s troubled past and ongoing relations with Indigenous peoples head on, there is a call for reconciliation with new urgency and even a roadmap from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. What are the roadblocks, and how can it be achieved?

Erosion of truth and trust

People seem to be losing trust in one another and in public institutions. The press, higher education, democratic governments, science and medical authorities are under attack. Expertise has been questioned; polarization is on the rise. What does this mean for the future of our institutions and society?

Power

A better future for Canada depends on analyses of power – including political decision-making, corporate power, and the persistent power of greed, to name a few. Power is also a lens for looking at inclusion, equity, environmental stewardship, human rights and happiness, dispersed power structures, and democracy.

Hope

Hope emerged as a key lens through which the Council imagined future possibilities for Canada. Hope focuses on prospects and solutions. It includes public and intergenerational optimism and re-envisioned forms of Canadian identity, citizenship, and new Canadian integration. Hope allows us to take action and become agents of change.

Community

Prioritizing relationship-building and community cohesiveness entails looking at how humans interact and engage with one another and their environment. Designing research with the aim of fostering and enriching relationships can lead to important outcomes and new openings for inquiry, including novel approaches to interdisciplinarity.

Well-being

The importance of well-being is critical for Canada’s future. The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of connection to support mental health and highlighted the dangers of isolation and disconnection from communities. Ensuring the well-being of individuals and communities should be central in all future scenarios.