New Report: Seniors Outnumber Children

We know it’s coming;  the impending Silver Tsunami is nearly upon us and according to a report released September 29, 2015 by Statistics Canada, for first time on record, Canadian seniors outnumber children.

The Globe and Mail reported Tuesday that on July 1, 2015, the number of people aged 65 and older accounted for 16.1 per cent of the Canadian population, just slightly ahead of the 16 per cent of those 14 years and younger.

The growing number of seniors in North America is attributed to the baby boom, referring to the sudden rise in birth rates between 1946 and 1965.  That, combined with older adults living longer, has resulted in a surge in the number of seniors that began in 2011 with the first wave of boomers reaching age 65.  By 2031, all the baby boomers will have reached 65 and the percentage of seniors in Canada could reach 23 per cent compared with 15 per cent in 2011.

Stats Can data found seniors outnumbered children in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario as well as in British Columbia.  Nova Scotia ranked as having the highest ratio of seniors in the nation at nearly 19 per cent compared with 14 per cent children.  The territories and the prairies provinces reported the opposite.  Nunavut however, showed children making up 31.1 per cent of the population while seniors only accounted for 3.7 per cent.   Nunavut also reported the highest population growth with a 2.3 per cent increase.

By the year 2024, seniors are expected to make up 20.1 per cent of the Canadian population compared with only 16.3 per cent who will be children 14 and younger.   Along with an aging population, a slowdown in economic growth and an increasing demand for social services will strain the Canadian economy over the next 20 to 40 years.

To read the full report visit the Statistics Canada website at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/150929/dq150929b-eng.htm?HPA .