Governments are too often required to design and launch programs without truly understanding how well they will work. Our goal is to support initiatives that will truly improve the lives of Canadians by incorporating science in policy.

Davis Pier’s new social innovation outpost, Pier Labs, works with partners in government, healthcare, academia, and the not-for-profit sector to help solve some of the toughest problems our region is facing. From healthcare, employment, and poverty, to education and public safety, our approach is to use behavioural science and evidence to develop policy and program improvements that we then rigorously test through experimentation.

What we do

  • Nudge projects – Our team conducts behavioural insight projects to test interventions and small changes to programs that have a big impact.
  • Randomized control experiments – We develop field experiments to measure the impact policy and program changes have on people’s wellbeing.
  • Social science and economic research – We partner with experts in social sciences and economics to incorporate academic evidence and best practice into our designs.
  • Innovation Labs – We work with citizens, stakeholders, and government to understand complex social challenges and design break-through solutions that can be tested and scaled.

Who we are

Pier Labs is a federally incorporated non-profit organization. Its purpose is to work with government, community organizations, post-secondary institutions, charities, foundations, and private sector organizations to conduct research and innovation on complex societal issues impacting the wellbeing of Canadians.

Pier Labs receives core operating funding from Davis Pier Consulting to ensure the resources provided by partner organizations are 100% used for project work. It is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of the Directors of Davis Pier Consulting and external members, ensuring transparency and mission-driven decision making.

Board of Directors

MIKE DAVIS (Chair)
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Darryl Pierrynowski

DARRYL PIERRYNOWSKI
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SANDRA MCKENZIE
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KEVIN HAMM
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