More than a decade ago, Dr. Paul Kershaw, a professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, recognized the wellbeing of younger Canadians was deteriorating. The generations raising kids were (and still are) squeezed by lower earnings, higher costs, growing debts, and a changing climate. In 2012, he organized Gen Squeeze as a university-community collaboration to ‘squeeze back’ and reverse these alarming trends.

We made progress, but along the way, we realized something deeper was breaking down in Canada. 

We observed that the symptoms of The Squeeze shared a common root cause: generational unfairness. The hard truth is older Canadians benefit from past policy decisions that now harm their kids and grandkids. 

We're now part of a global movement calling on governments to embrace the intergenerational solidarity and long-term planning we expect in our families. To create a Canada that works for all generations, our elected leaders must become more responsible stewards — investing and raising revenue fairly to promote wellbeing from the early years onwards. We invite all Canadians to join us in pushing for policy solutions that will restore our country's prosperity and promise for those who follow in our footsteps.

Fixing systems is hard and slow work, because they are grounded in cultural myths and values that are tough to change. But we’re in it for the long haul.