Demographic Transition In Canada

Seniors, ages 65 and older, are the fastest growing population group in Canada. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) Two main causes of the aging of Canada’s population is an increase in life expectancy and the change in fertility rates between the years of 1940’s and 1960’s, this generation is now known as the baby boomers. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) In 2001, one out of every eight Canadians was over the age of 65, and it is estimated that by 2026, one in every five Canadians will reach the age of 65 or older. (“Canada’s aging population,” 2002) Moreover, it is estimated that more than 16 million Canadians live with at least one chronic disease. (Singh, Khan & Paul, 2009) In Canada chronic diseases accounted for 89% of deaths in 2005. (Singh, Khan & Paul, 2009) The demographic shift and rise in prevalence of chronic diseases will be a major test for the health care system of Canada which it might not be ready for. Canadians across the nation are forced to wait two or three times longer for necessary medical procedures than citizens of other countries who also have universal healthcare systems. (“Wait Times Alliance,” 2014) In a 2005 poll done by Pollara Strategic Insights, when Canadians were asked what the most serious problem facing the healthcare system was, the highest number of respondents (43%) identified long wait times. (“Waiting Too Long,”

Over the next 50 years ageing baby boomers will have great impact on the Canadian economy in the area of health care. Baby boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 increased the demand for elementary schools, high schools, post- secondary education and family housing. By 2062 many baby boomers will turn 100, now that they are aging, the demand for health care, death services, retirement homes and medicine is increasing. From 2015 to 2062, there is a predicted cost of $7.2 trillion that will be spent in health care for senior citizens. For funeral services for the baby boomers in 2015, there is an estimated cost of $2.8 trillion, and old pension cost of $1.3 trillion. The senior

Adults that work support the country and people who are not working. The dependency load is the people who are not working; ages 0 to 14 and over the age of 65. The dependency ratio compares the number of people not working to the number of people working. The more working people a country has, the greater the economical growth. With more money being given to the government, the effect is that the region could have better technology, transportation, healthcare, and food quality as the government has the money to buy, build, and repair. In Canada, because of our decrease in population, (figure 1.4) there future dependency load will be greater than our workforce causing economical problems. (Patterns and Trends: Although Canada’s population is decreasing over time, this could change as another “baby boom” could happen.) Since we have less people working, it will eventually cause problems such as our economy will go down. To solve a problem like this, the government could raise the taxes to keep the money going in, or increase the population by

David Foot, a Canadian demographer puts forward some economic prediction in the aspect of demographics in his recent research. He states his opinion that which countries will success and which countries will be in trouble in the next 20 years are predictable, based on the number of old and young people they have. An adequate amount of young people who are ready to work is the key for economies growth. Lack of enough young people to work will result in underproduction, while too many of them will lead to youth unemployment and unrest. In the article “Is Canada Headed for Demographic Disaster,” the author Diane Francis makes some predictions based on demographics. Countries such as Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Egypt are in danger since their birth

Maturing of the population is likely a standout among the most examined and debated subjects in Canada today. While a few experts gauge the most noticeably awful as far as expenses to open administrations and work market deficiencies, others contend that Canada is very much prepared to face this social and demographic change - and that individuals shouldn 't stress that much over the developmental rate of seniors in the population.

Canada’s birth rates are below replacement levels and its population is aging, causing a significant drop in labour force growth over the long term. By 2030, nearly one out of every four Canadians will be 65 years or older. Moreover,

According to a group of scholars, Canada can become an economically independent country once it reaches a population of 100 million.5 It is a common misunderstanding that immigration only leads to the loss of citizens' benefits. A study in 1975 states that an increase in population will rather bring out a greater outcome toward sustaining our economy.6 “Canada needs that much population for geostrategic, defense and diplomatic reasons. This population level would give Canada ‘new domestic structures coupled with growing international impact and prestige,’” (Global

In the years directly following the Second World War (1946 until around 1965), there was a period of drastically increased birthrates in Canada and around the world. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia (2014), the number births in Canada rose from 253 000 in 1940 to 479 000 in 1960. This occurrence is known as the “Baby Boom”. For the majority of their lives, the baby boomer generation has represented a large proportion of Canada’s population, and they still do today. Presently, the generation is reaching traditional retirement age (for instance, 1946 births are 68, while 1965 births are 49), and experts around the country are speculating what this will do to the country. The aging baby boomer generation will have a negative effect on Canada

Look at the population difference from the 1800's to the 21's century. Look at the increase of Canada's changing population.

High population in Canada is very good especially for the economy but, there tend to be a couple of factors where the population poses a threat to Canada. Firstly there is the aging baby boomers. The baby boomers were born after world war 11 and currently they are at working age and soon to be at retirement age. The Baby boomers have improved our economy by a lot but, since they are becoming older and older they will need more support. This poses a threat to Canada but then there will be a huge drop in our economy be all of the sudden a large portion of Canada’s workers will retire. Then Canada will start to need more elderly homes and more medical care etc. The next big population issue we have in Canada is immigrants. Immigrants come to Canada

“In 1971, there were nine people aged 15-64 in Quebec, compared to one person over 65. By 2013, the ratio had dropped from 9 to 1 to 4 to 1. By 2050, it will be 2 to 1.”(Simpson, 2014). Quebec’s greatest restrain is its lack in population growth. Due to its aging population and low replacement rate. Meaning we have a population that does not have enough people to replace those dying. But, also to a low acceptance of immigration due to its many red tape and laws. This has a great impact on future government expenditure and to the future of productivity due to a shortage of labour.

Canada is experiencing a rapid growth in aging population and it is not going to slow down anytime soon. In 1851 there were about 65, 000 seniors in Canada and the number in 2014 is 5.57 million.[1] In 2036 the elders will be over ten million and by 2051 one in every four Canadians will be a senior [2].

The OECD anticipates that Canada will experience a decline in it's population growth percentage of its residents, who are less than 15 years of age to decline from 16.5 to just 15.6 percent from 2010-2050. Mr. Sakir states that this will spur many both social and economic implications that could put a permanent stop to the country's growth.

As Nicholas has mentioned currently, Canadians 65 and over represents 16% of the population, however, the ratio is expected to grow to 24% in the next two decades according to the report by conference Board of Canada. With average birth rate of 1.6 per woman in Canada (according to Central Intelligence Agency) and longer life expectancy impacts on labour force, government expenditures for health care and old age security benefit. All these factors

Demography is the study of the components of population variation and change. Death rate and birth rate are two determinants of population change. Theory of Demographic Transition is comparatively recent theory that has been accepted by several scholars throughout the world. This theory embraces the observation that all countries in the world go through different stages in the growth of population. A nation's economy and level of development is directly related to that nation's birth and death rates. Population history can be divided into different stages. Some of the scholars have divided it into three and some scholars have divided it into five stages. These stages or classifications demonstrate a