Canadians between the ages of 55 and 64 made up 21.8% of the working-age population last year, a peak in Canadian census history and one of the factors behind labor shortages. work, according to Statistics Canada observations.
Data released Wednesday by the federal agency show that from 2016 to last year, the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 18.3% to 7 million, the second largest increase in 75 years. During these five years, the number of children under 15 increased six times less quickly than that of people aged 65 and over.
Statistics Canada explains these demographic changes by low fertility and increased life expectancy, adding that although immigration is rejuvenating the Canadian population, it is not enough to reverse the aging process.
The populations of the Prairie provinces and the territories are younger and, conversely, those of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec are older. The proportion of people aged 65 and over rose the fastest in Newfoundland and Labrador, by 4.2 percentage points.
In Quebec, 20.6% of the population is aged 65 and over.
On the other hand, Canadian seniors over the age of 85 are among the fastest growing age groups in the country. This is another important step in the trend that predicts a crisis in care for Canada’s seniors.
The number of people over 85 has more than doubled since the 2001 census and is expected to triple by 2046.
The federal agency nevertheless observed that the population of Canada remains, for the moment, among the youngest of the G-7 countries, behind those of the United States and the United Kingdom.
In addition, the 2021 census allowed for the first time all transgender or non-binary people to declare their gender.
Thus, in Canada, of the approximately 30.5 million people aged 15 and over living in a private household in May 2021, 100,815 were transgender or non-binary, which represented 0.33% of the population of this group. of age.
Statistics Canada reports that the proportions of transgender or non-binary people are three to seven times higher among those born between 1981 and 1996, but especially among those born between 1997 and 2006, than among previous generations.