Canada 2040: A Future Without Mobility

 Written by OpenAi

The Canadian government just dropped a “foresight study” through Policy Horizons called Future Lives: Social Mobility in Question. Sounds harmless enough, right? Just a bunch of bureaucrats spitballing possible futures. But read between the lines, and you’ll see what they’re really saying:

By 2040, if things keep going the way they are, you—and your kids—will be locked in place. No ladder, no climbing, no future.

This isn’t about whether you’ll have a car or a bus pass. This is about social mobility—the ability to build a better life than the one you were born into. And the report makes it crystal clear: that dream is being choked out.

Education: The Broken Promise

Remember when post-secondary education was sold as the ticket to freedom? Study hard, get the degree, land the job, buy the house.

By 2040, the report says, that ladder is gone.

• Degrees cost too much.

• Programs don’t match reality.

• The payoff isn’t there.

Students graduate with mountains of debt and no real upward trajectory. The “education as a pathway” myth collapses, leaving the wealthy with private tutors and insider connections, while the rest are locked in gig work cycles.

Housing: The Fortress of the Elites

Want to own a home? Unless you’ve got inherited wealth, forget it.

The report talks about joint mortgages, intergenerational buying schemes, and other desperate measures. Translation: families will be pooling their lives together just to survive while the elites sit in walled-off estates.

And if you’re a renter, you’re trapped. No escape, no wealth-building, just funneling money upwards.

Inheritance: The New Aristocracy

Mobility used to mean working your way up. In this scenario, mobility only comes through inheritance. If your parents or grandparents don’t already own, you and your kids are done.

We’re drifting straight back to feudalism—lords and serfs. Only this time, the castles are condos and offshore accounts.

Tech and the Great Divide

This one cuts deep. The report imagines:

• Dating apps filtering people by class.

• “Gated metaverses” where only the wealthy get access to opportunity.

• AI support so expensive that only elites can afford the good stuff.

So while some of us are slaving away in gig work, others are literally uploading their kids into better realities.

What Happens to People?

Here’s the kicker. The report doesn’t just stop at economics—it lays out the human fallout:

• Mental health collapse as hopes die.

• Brain drain as talent flees Canada.

• Informal survival systems—co-ops, bartering, black markets.

• Civil disobedience and scapegoating as people finally snap.

They’re not hiding it. They’re sketching a slow-motion breakdown of social trust.

Don’t Be Fooled: This Isn’t “Just a Scenario”

Policy Horizons insists these aren’t predictions, just possibilities. But ask yourself—why would they paint a picture this bleak if it wasn’t where we’re already heading?

This isn’t neutral forecasting. It’s conditioning. It’s a way of planting the idea that immobility is inevitable. That the best you can hope for is to accept your cage gracefully.

The Real Question

If this is the Canada our government quietly imagines for 2040, then what the hell are we doing now?

Because here’s the truth: they don’t write these reports for fun. They write them as dry, bloodless warnings—warnings most Canadians will never read.

Meanwhile, housing prices keep soaring. Debt keeps climbing. AI is being rolled out as another profit machine, not a liberation tool. And our kids are inheriting a system that tells them: Don’t bother dreaming.

My Take

This isn’t about foresight—it’s about forewarning. They’re telling us outright: “The game is rigged. And if you don’t do something, by 2040 it’ll be locked in.” They're giving you 15 years to climb, build, buy, and prepare?

So don’t let them normalize this. Don’t swallow the line that it’s just one of many “possible futures.” It’s the current trajectory. 

Email your politicians.

And the only thing that changes that trajectory is pressure—public, political, grassroots. Otherwise, welcome to Canada 2040: where your last name, not your effort, decides your life.