For defined contribution plan members, the ultimate positive DC experience is understanding the plan provisions, knowing what decisions to make, feeling confident about making well-informed choices and arriving at a prosperous retirement, said Barbara Sanders, associate professor of statistics and actuarial science at Simon Fraser University, during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2026 DC Plan Summit.

“Instead of bringing that confidence and that positive energy, many of [your plan members] are probably approaching their pension plan and the general idea of retirement planning with varying degrees of confusion and stress and just general befuddlement. And in most cases, that confusion and that befuddlement doesn’t generate curiosity, it generates avoidance.”

Even though the industry is building the best possible autopilot, including strong defaults like automatic features and target-date funds, it doesn’t automatically generate understanding and appreciation. “If we want members to understand and appreciate the pension plan, we have to engineer [engagement] back in.”

Read: A look at the landscape for automatic features in Canadian pension plans

The aim is to move from an architecture that focuses only on outcomes to one that also supports engagement, said Sanders, noting the architecture is the collection of design elements, communications and decision supports. “I’m referring to the entire environment in which members are asked to make decisions, particularly retirement plan decisions. This includes the way their choices are structured, the way information is framed, the language that’s used and the timing of that information.”

Behavioural science research shows engagement requires very specific psychological conditions, she said, citing five structural beams: clarity, agency, relevance, emotional safety and momentum.

First, clarity isn’t about providing more information, said Sanders, it’s about better structuring that information so it can be more easily understood. It’s also created by layering information, so presenting the most essential information first in the simplest possible language. “If you want to do layering well so it can actually contribute to engagement, you have to make sure the first layer answers the key question that people care about, what matters to members right now for the next decision they have to make.”

Agency is about ownership, which can change perceptions, she said, sharing the example of active defaults. “When a member actively confirms a six per cent contribution rate, that six per cent is more likely to be felt as intentional. Agency reframes the pension . . . and appreciation can then grow from that ownership.”

Read: Communication key to reinforcing value of workplace retirement plans: report

Next, Sanders described relevance as translating the pension plan from an abstract financial vehicle into a life-supporting structure. While a lot of plan member communications still use technical terms, it doesn’t necessarily answer members’ underlying question: What does this mean for my life?

“Relevance is really important in a high cost-of-living environment because when employees are making these difficult trade-offs . . . , if your narrative is built around abstract concepts, . . . your pension plan is going to struggle to compete with those pressing current needs and you’re going to lose engagement.”

Financial planning can be very unpleasant for people, said Sanders, so a pension plan’s decision supports must reduce the sense of threat and aim to be emotionally safe for members. One approach is to present projections of the future that’s in members’ control, she noted, while another is to frame the risk constrictively and yet another is to highlight sources of secure income.

“The pension plan is one source of income they’ll have in retirement, but they’ll also have other sources — Canada/Quebec Pension Plan, old-age security — that are secure and reminding them of that secure base is anxiety-reducing. Situating your plan within that larger framework can be helpful.”

Finally, momentum means making members’ progress visible to them, said Sanders, such as providing feedback on their retirement goals when their contribution rates change or clearly acknowledging when they’ve reached a milestone. “When members can see their actions provide or produce visible movement, that motivation increases. . . .  Members begin to see their DC plan balance as an important evolving asset instead of a passive deduction.”

Read: Panel: Generational divide, plan intricacies complicating member communications strategies

Bringing all five elements together, she said clarity makes engagement possible, agency makes it intentional, relevance makes it meaningful, emotional safety makes it approachable and momentum makes it sustainable. “When all five of these are present, something important happens. Members don’t just participate, they begin to value the plan. They understand it, they feel ownership over it, they see how it supports their life, they experience stability within it and then they observe their progress through it. And that shift from participation to appreciation is what that engagement architecture is supposed to achieve.”

Sanders suggested plan sponsors look at their own architecture — both the design elements and the communications and decision supports — and see where they can compliment it with the five elements of the engagement architecture. “Do your members already have enough clarity? Do they get enough agency? Do they have enough relevance, emotional safety and momentum? And if not, where can you eject more into your system?”

Read more coverage from the 2026 DC Plan Summit.