'A real sense of purpose' for pension management

When Korinne Collins stepped into the role of CEO at the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) just over a year ago, she was no stranger to complex situations. A veteran of PwC, IBM, CIBC, and the credit union sector, Collins arrived with a track record in financial services and association leadership. Even with that pedigree, she admits the pension world brought a level of intricacy she hadn’t fully anticipated.

But that learning curve didn’t slow her down. It’s instead informed a refreshingly pragmatic outlook. She believes Canada's retirement system needs modernization, better regulatory coordination, and more effective communication. Not just between plan sponsors and regulators, but with members and stakeholders at large.

“Ultimately, I do think there's a real sense of purpose here. You're doing work that impacts Canadians’ retirement income. That's something that's not hard to get up out of bed for every day. Knowing you're doing something that really impacts your average Canadian that you don't even know is very rewarding. That's one of the things that brought me here.”

Collins says the Canadian pension sector is entering a period of necessary change, driven in part by signals from policymakers who are pushing for “pension modernization.” That evolution, she notes, could take many forms - from adopting better technology to streamlining how pension plans communicate with members.

While digital communication is a key part of that shift, it hasn’t been universally embraced as she highlighted there’s been resistance from policy makers to move away from traditional methods like paper statements, but Collins challenges the notion that seniors aren’t ready for digital tools.

“We’ve seen that seniors are more digitally capable than many assume. During COVID, they were FaceTiming family every day. The real opportunity is to meet them with secure, user-friendly tools, not hold on to outdated assumptions,” she said, adding that paper-based communication carries its own risks, including lost or stolen mail. She argues it's time to “myth bust” the assumptions holding back progress for pensioners.

While Collins came from a 60-person association that managed multiple advocacy functions, she admits ACPM is leaner but, in her view, no less potent. One of the early shocks she realized after stepping into her role was just how sprawling the Canadian pension landscape is.

“I had no idea how many [pension plans] there were,” she said. “I still can’t believe it, there’s roughly 14,000 of all different sizes,” she said. “When you have 14,000 plans and you are asked to respond to a certain piece of potential policy, are you speaking on a segment of your member population or truly at large?”

The resulting challenge for Collins is ensuring the organization is tune with their members while giving them ample opportunity to participate.

Consequently, one of the biggest challenges for ACPM has been managing pace. The organization has a clear seven-year plan, but the temptation for Collins is to try to execute everything at once or in the near-term. For her, the key has been building steadily while avoiding overwhelming the team or the industry.

Another complexity stems from being heavily volunteer driven. With so many possible initiatives, not everything can be accomplished immediately.

That’s why her response has been to prioritize engagement, both with ACPM’s existing member base and the plans that still operate outside of it. It’s a strategy driven by the understanding that if the organization is going to speak as a unified voice on pension issues, it needs to truly reflect the breadth of the sector and provide actionable insights plan sponsors can use and implement in their own workforce.

The organization is also repositioning itself as “a convener.” Collins believes ACPM can play a pivotal role in fostering sector-wide collaboration. One example is this year’s national conference which featured an expanded workshop track, growing from two to three concurrent sessions, and the introduction of a women’s networking session aimed at fostering collaboration among the nearly 50 per cent of attendees who are women.

As she looks to the next phase of her leadership, her focus is firmly on bridging the generational divide in the pension space and preparing the organization to represent both current plan sponsors and the next wave of pension contributors.

But with shifting demographics and a rapidly evolving workforce, Collins knows that staying relevant won’t mean doing more of the same. She’s acutely aware of the disconnect many younger Canadians feel when it comes to retirement, unsure if they’ll ever reach it and doubtful about the systems that promise to support them. That uncertainty, she said, is one of the industry’s most urgent communication challenges.

Part of the solution, in her view, lies in how and when financial education is delivered. “We keep talking about education and financial literacy - [they’re] incredibly important - but you must get that education to people at their time of need,” she said, adding that high school may be too early, and pension enrollment packages often go unread.

She’s also mindful of how retirement is marketed as most new plan members “just don’t see themselves there. They can’t picture themselves as retirees,” she said.

Collins ultimately sees ACPM’s future as one rooted in strategic growth - both in voice and in impact. Pointing to a seven-year plan already in motion, she said the focus is on expanding the organization’s relevance, sharpening its advocacy, and becoming more intentional about who ACPM speaks for on specific issues.

“It’s about growth and relevance. Growth in the voice, essentially, for the sector,” she said, underscoring that means being bold when needed, inclusive where appropriate, and highly specific when a policy or regulation affects only certain types of plans.

One key priority is expanding ACPM’s membership base. Not for financial reasons, but to ensure the organization can speak credibly and comprehensively for the sector and deepen ACPM’s value proposition by positioning it as a central hub for content, insight, and partnerships across the pension ecosystem.

“There are many pension plan sponsors that are not part of ACPM, and I really would like them to be. We’re often called to put forward a point of view for the sector, and we really want to represent that sector as inclusively as we can. We want more opportunities to be a convener of the system. ACPM has been here 50 years. Let’s do 50 more,” she said.