Reflections from DemocracyXChange on the power—and necessity—of foresight, by Suzanne Stein, Associate Professor Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Special Advisor, Strategic Foresight, School of Graduate Studies, OCAD University and Everton Lewis , Managing Director, OCAD U Co.

In the final days of this election cycle, Canadians are once again engaged in a debate not only over leadership, but over the very shape of our future. On campaign stages and in media interviews, party leaders are casting sweeping visions of what lies ahead. And yet, beneath this political theatre, a quieter consensus is taking hold: we are living through profound, intersecting transformations—and we need to get better at anticipating them.

That’s where Strategic Foresight comes in.

Some of you who joined us at DemocracyXChange this year have now experienced foresight firsthand, through the Democracy Futures workshop hosted by OCAD U’s Super Ordinary Lab and OCAD U CO. For others, this work has been a steady throughline—an evolving effort to shift from reactive politics to proactive, participatory governance.

At its core, foresight is not about prediction. It’s about preparation. It’s a discipline that governments, businesses, think tanks, and civil society use to analyze the forces shaping our world—from climate disruption and AI, to demographic shifts and global political realignment. Through scenario development, systems mapping, and participatory design, foresight helps us think beyond short-term cycles and toward long-term, collective possibilities. It allows us to ask: What could happen? What should happen? And how do we design policies, institutions, and cultures that are more adaptive, equitable, and resilient?

This year’s Democracy Futures didn’t shy away from complexity. Participants confronted the realities of democratic decline, civic fragmentation, and misinformation—not to despair, but to rehearse meaningful, scalable responses. This wasn’t theory. It was democratic strategy for an age of disruption.

And yet, as we’ve seen in the public response to the recent Policy Horizons Canada report—a sophisticated foresight exercise sketching futures for Canada in 2040—we still have a long way to go. Dismissed by some as “bureaucratic science fiction,” the report sparked outrage precisely because its method was misunderstood. It wasn’t forecasting. It was scaffolding for civic imagination.

This misunderstanding should concern us all. Because when foresight is caricatured as fantasy, we rob ourselves of one of the most important tools we have to make sense of uncertainty—and to shape what comes next.

As we move toward DXC26, the question isn’t just what challenges we face—but how we will meet them together. What futures must we now prepare for? How do we scale foresight as a public practice? And how can we ensure it becomes a core tool for governments, communities, and citizens alike?

To the next government—whomever you are: The call is clear. We must build the civic capacity to think long-term, together. That means supporting foresight not just in federal reports, but in schools, community organizations, and civic institutions. That means embedding participatory futures into policymaking. And that means recognizing foresight not as a theoretical exercise, but as a democratic necessity.

Because the future isn’t something that simply happens to us. It’s something we design—deliberately, collaboratively, and with care.

Let’s ensure we meet it with clarity, courage, and creativity.Together.

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