Canada’s working-age population is older than it once was, with more than one in five working adults now on the verge of retiring in a demographic change that will pose significant challenges to Canada’s workforce over the next decade, according to new census data released on Wednesday.
Calling it a “meeting with demographics,” Laurent Martel, director of the Center for Demography at Canadian Statistics, said, “Canada is in a very special place right now” in its demographic history.
“There are very big consequences to this situation and it is certainly one of the factors explaining the current labor shortage that Canada is experiencing.
The Canadian population now has a higher proportion of people aged 55 to 64 than those aged 15 to 24, the age at which people enter the workforce.
In 1966, there were 200 people aged 15 to 24 for every 100 Canadians aged 55 to 64, but now it’s reversed. In 2021, there were only 81 people aged 15 to 24 for every 100 Canadians in the 55-64 age group.
“There are challenges related to the older workforce, including knowledge transfer, retaining experienced staff and rejuvenating the workforce,” the agency said in a statement.
Statistics from Canada say that this trend can be slowed down by immigration, but “an increase in immigration – even large – will not significantly limit this projected decline.”
The 2021 census says that while declining birth rates and increased life expectancy are important factors, the only major driver of Canada’s aging population is the continued retirement of baby boomers (Canadians born between 1946 and 1965). .), which started in 2011.
Despite this news, Statistics Canada says the country still has one of the youngest working-age populations in the G-7 after the United States and the United Kingdom, with 15- to 64-year-olds making up 64.8 percent of Japan’s population. , where it is less than 60 percent.
In the United States, the slightly younger workforce is the result of a slightly higher birth rate, while in the United Kingdom it is a combination of a higher birth rate and a relatively lower number of baby boomers, Statistics Canada reported.
Aging population
Not only is Canada’s workforce aging significantly, but so is the population as a whole, Canadian Statistics said.
From 2016 to 2021, the number of Canadians aged 65 and over increased by 18.3% to seven million, the second largest increase in 75 years, after the increase recorded from 2011 to 2016, which is an increase of more than 20%.
The seven million Canadians aged 65 and over make up 19% of the population, up from 16.9% at the time of the last census.
A closer look shows that the number of Canadians aged 85 and over has increased by almost 12 per cent since the last census, while the number of Canadians over the age of 100 has increased by more than 15 per cent.
“Over the next 30 years, the number of people aged 85 and over could triple from 861,000 to 2.7 million,” the agency said.
Canada’s population statistics show that by 2051, nearly a quarter of the population could be aged 65 or over and include nearly 12 million people.
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