Yes indeed, Stats Canada has published their Census 2011 numbers and there are some very interesting numbers, which will affect (and even effect) Canada’s future (financially and in general).
As a result, the number of seniors has continued to converge with the number of children in Canada between 2006 and 2011. The census counted 5,607,345 children aged 14 and under, compared with 4,945,060 seniors. In the working-age population, the census counted 22,924,300 people.
The Canadian population looking more like a classic Normal Curve, with equal amounts of the population in the Kids and Seniors category.
A fun little add on to this statement is:
The main factors behind the aging of Canada’s population are the nation’s below-replacement-level fertility rate over the last 40 years and an increasing life expectancy.
So Canada’s population is growing due to immigration more than “via our loins”, but also we are living a lot longer too.
One more point brought up to think about:
For the first time, census data showed that there were more people in the age group 55 to 64, where people typically are about to leave the labour force, than in the age group 15 to 24, where people typically are about to enter it.
There are as many folks about to leave the work force as there are trying to enter it, yet we have a large unemployment rate in the younger age group? Will this change? Lots of arguments on both sides.
So what does this have to do with personal finance? Allow me a few simple observations:
- The financial support system for the Government has been mostly modeled on a growing population supporting a diminishing population size (i.e. the young folk supporting the seniors), this model seems to be changing (this is the infamous CPP can’t support the Baby Boomers argument).
- Can the medical system support an aging population? Instead of a Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, will we see a Geriatric Hospital of Eastern Ontario?
- Can Casinos be the answer for flagging Government income, since their main customer base seems to be senior citizens?
All very interesting, but I believe Stats Canada has now confirmed what pretty much of us already knew, Canada’s Population is aging.
