In its sophomore year under its new branding, the Employee Savings Survey (previously known as the CAP Member Survey) reflects the changing landscape of workplace savings programs as plan members face competing financial priorities and employers step up to expand their offerings.

Going even further, some of this year’s results were broken down into different age groups, genders and income groups to explore the unique perspective of different demographics, including how the current economic environment is impacting their personal financial situations, how they perceive their workplace savings plans and their retirement expectations, as well as how they feel about the use of artificial intelligence.

Financial priorities continue to shift amid uncertainty, high cost of living

This year’s survey found fewer plan members consider their personal financial situation significantly or somewhat better than last year.

Indeed, that percentage dropped from 42 per cent in 2025 to 34 per cent this year. However, those who described it as significantly worse or somewhat worse was also down — from 26 per cent last year to 22 per cent this year.

Read: Fewer plan members describing financial situation as better, worse than last year: survey

“The number of people who feel better off has declined and the number of people who feel worse has reduced,” said Jimmy Carbonneau, national director of group retirement, group insurance and group annuity plans advisor at AGA Benefit Solutions, during the webinar. “Do they cancel each other out? I’m not sure, but there’s definitely a form of levelling off.”

He referred to the post-pandemic financial concept of the K-shaped economy, the idea that the wealthy are getting wealthier and the less wealthy are getting poorer. The concept is now being replaced by the E-shaped economy, he said, where wealthy people keep up their consumption and less wealthy people are levelling off.

Connecting these financial concepts to pension plans, Carbonneau noted the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities’ updated capital accumulation plan guideline highlights the importance of members and emphasizes that plan sponsors should know their employee demographics. “That membership, as we see in the numbers, might be divided into sub-groups. Design your plan and communicate to each of them accordingly.”

For the first time, the survey asked plan members how the cost of living has impacted their personal financial situations, with a majority (61 per cent) saying somewhat or very negatively. Those with household incomes between $60,000 and $99,000 were the most likely to agree, at 76 per cent, followed by those in the highest income bracket (more than $150,000) at 63 per cent. Respondents with household incomes lower than $60,000 were the least likely to agree, at 46 per cent.

Read: Editorial: To save for the short term or long term, that is the question

“The under-$60,000 households are typically more likely to be younger demographics, possibly living at home or with roommates to share some of the cost factors,” said Tawnya Duxbury, assistant vice-president of products and solutions for workplace retirement at Canada Life. “And the added element is they’re the least likely to own a home. . . . They’re a little bit more sheltered from that housing cost element.”

The group that ranked the highest was the “middle squeeze,” she added, noting Canada Life’s own surveys and data show middle-income households are feeling the strongest pinch because they don’t have as much discretionary income.

For several years, the survey has asked respondents to rank their top financial priorities, with paying for day-to-day expenses repeatedly taking the top spot. This year, saving for retirement was........

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