Fuse Financial Insights Survey:
A National Financial Portrait
Every Canadian participates in an unspoken social contract about retirement security. We contribute to pensions, save for the future, and trust that our collective institutions will honor their promises when we need them most. But how well is this contract working?
This study combines expertise from sociology, economics, psychology, and finance to examine how demographics, income, wealth, employment status, health concerns, and psychological factors interact with institutional structures to shape retirement outcomes across a nationally representative sample of 2,500 Canadian adults. The ~90-question survey captures Canadians’ behaviors and builds an understanding of the context that shapes them. We integrate traditional financial literacy measures with factors like present bias, loss aversion, and social influence to learn how they affect everything from daily money management to long-term retirement planning. The survey integrates validated measurement tools from leading researchers while adapting them for contemporary Canadian realities.
What You'll Discover
Patterns and insights across the entire Canadian population, showing not just what Canadians do with their money, but why they do it—and what support they need from our collective institutions to build genuine financial resilience.
The findings paint a portrait of a nation grappling with financial security in an era of economic uncertainty, evolving work patterns, and changing family structures. Some discoveries confirm what we suspected; others challenge fundamental assumptions about how financial wellness actually works in Canadian lives.
Who Benefits from This Research
Policymakers & Government
See how current systems perform in practice, identifying where gaps exist between policy intentions and lived experiences. The data reveals which Canadians our social contract serves well and which populations face systemic barriers.
Pension Plans & Financial Institutions
Gain unprecedented insight into how Canadians experience financial decision-making across all life domains. This isn't market research—it's human understanding that can inform genuinely helpful products and services.
Researchers & Academics
Access comprehensive, validated data that bridges individual psychology with population-level patterns. The methodology combines established frameworks with contemporary Canadian realities.
Advocates & Organizations
Ground your work in credible, comprehensive evidence about the financial wellness challenges facing different Canadian populations. The data supports informed advocacy for effective policies and programs.
Policymakers & Government
See how current systems perform in practice, identifying where gaps exist between policy intentions and lived experiences. The data reveals which Canadians our social contract serves well and which populations face systemic barriers.
Pension Plans & Financial Institutions
Gain unprecedented insight into how Canadians experience financial decision-making across all life domains. This isn't market research—it's human understanding that can inform genuinely helpful products and services.
Researchers & Academics
Access comprehensive, validated data that bridges individual psychology with population-level patterns. The methodology combines established frameworks with contemporary Canadian realities.
Advocates & Organizations
Ground your work in credible, comprehensive evidence about the financial wellness challenges facing different Canadian populations. The data supports informed advocacy for effective policies and programs.
Why We're Sharing This Openly
Canada’s financial wellness challenges require collective action and shared accountability. By making this research freely available, we aim to strengthen our social contract by providing the evidence needed for informed policy development, institutional innovation, and public discourse.
Too often, important research remains locked behind paywalls or limited to narrow audiences. We believe that understanding how our social contract actually functions should be accessible to everyone who has a stake in its success—which means all Canadians.
This transparency reflects our conviction that effective financial policy and institutional design must be grounded in genuine understanding of human behavior as it unfolds in all its complexity. These multi-disciplinary insights can serve as a foundation for evidence-based solutions that help millions of Canadians manage their financial lives.
Ready to Explore the Data?
Dive into the interactive dashboard to discover how Canada’s retirement social contract is working in practice.
