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Oh hi, again. We’ve talked in this newsletter before about Canada’s biggest retirement wave yet and the pressure it’s putting on workplaces. Today, we’re digging into a new AI product that’s trying to tackle one part of that problem: what happens when decades of institutional knowledge walk out the door.
Download your brain
Imagine this: You’ve worked at a company for decades and you’re finally set to retire. But before you clock out for good, you sit through a few sessions designed to capture everything you know.
Oh, also, all those sessions are done with an AI agent.
That’s what Vooban, a Quebec-based artificial intelligence company, created. It’s called Morphe, and it’s an AI product that has conversations with outgoing employees and turns that into a database the entire workplace can access.
It sounds a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s trying to address a very real issue in Canada’s workforce right now.
The number of retirements in Canada increased from 183,900 in August, 2012, to 276,800 in August, 2025, - rising over 50 per cent. By 2030, every remaining boomer will have turned 65.
That means many workers are either preparing to leave their jobs or have already left, taking years of operational expertise with them.
“Having the access to that level of understanding is very rich,” said Carl Chouinard, chief product officer at Vooban.
Here’s how it works: Over four to six 30-minute sessions, an AI agent asks employees targeted questions about their role, tasks, processes - trying to understand the “how” and “why” behind decisions. The agent can even see a shared screen and pull information from what the employee is showing them.
The result is a digital resource other employees can then search. Someone might ask the system: “Which suppliers did Brad trust the most and what’s the best way to reach out to them?”
Vooban said that the AI product has been designed to meet the requirements of Quebec’s Law 25, a privacy law that protects personal information, and the company is working on receiving a SOC 2 Type II certification from an independent auditor, which validates the organization’s data security.
The company also said that the data gathered during sessions is exclusive property of the client and is not used to train Vooban’s models.
If an employee did not want to participate in conversations with the AI agent, Mr. Chouinard said there is an option of manual interviews and inputting it into the Morphe system, instead.
The product has been soft-launched, piloting with a couple of clients before its formal commercial launch in June.
What do you think about this product? How did you transfer your work knowledge when you retired? Let me know: mraman@globeandmail.com.
Callout
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If you or someone you love has experienced a grandparent scam or another type of fraud targeting older adults, including but not limited to investment, gift card or romance fraud, we’d like to hear from you. You can reach us at elderfraud@globeandmail.com.
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The Calculator
After Ottawa tightened mortgage insurance rules in 2016, the share of insured residential mortgages has steadily declined, reducing the amount of mortgage risk ultimately backed by taxpayers.
The Retirement Receipt
Rick Demaray, a local resident of Brussels, Ont., stands in front of the closing CIBC on April 22.Nicole Osborne/The Globe and Mail
What’s happening: A small town in rural Ontario is losing its last physical bank branch, forcing many residents, especially seniors, to travel 30 minutes or more for in-person banking.
Why it matters: As banks continue shifting towards digital services, some seniors are being left behind. Older Canadians are more likely to depend on in-person banking, struggle with online platforms, or worry about fraud.
Best of the Rest
🛒 Grocery prices are still squeezing Canadians. Food prices in March were 35 per cent higher than just before the pandemic - what personal finance columnist Rob Carrick calls the “most toxic form of personal-finance adversity in the past six years.”
⏱️ Delaying CPP could become less risky under a proposed reform. A group of retirement experts is calling for a “pension delay guarantee,” which would reimburse Canadians who delay taking CPP but die earlier than expected.
🚗 The first Chinese-made EV arriving in Canada is not exactly budget friendly. Under the new lower-tariff rules, the new car starts at $119,900 before fees and taxes.
👴 The great wealth transfer may not happen as quickly as young folks hope. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that older Americans now control roughly US$110-trillion in wealth, but many boomers still have decades left to live. (Paywalled)
Try This
📜 Disagree with the CRA’s assessment? Experts say your first move should be to call or write the agency directly, as many disputes come down to misunderstandings. And don’t wait too long: Canadians generally have 90 days form the date on their notice of assessment or reassessment to file a formal objection.