OTTAWA, Mar 13, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Statistics Canada released a report today noting that Canada will experience “an enormous increase in the number of seniors” with less and less working people to support them. Moreover Canada’s population is set to decline despite heavy immigration by the middle of this century. Interestingly the report says “Immigration levels contribute heavily to the projected population growth at the national level, as the fertility rate is always assumed to be below the replacement level, a situation observed since the 1970s.” The report fails to mention that the advent of abortion and contraception have obviously led to the current crisis and that only the restoration of a pro-child mentality will ensure the reversal of the looming under-population crisis.
“An enormous increase in the number of seniors, attributable to the aging of the baby boomers combined with continuing low fertility levels and increasing longevity, will age the population rapidly,” says the report. “By 2016 at the latest, Canada will have far more seniors than children aged 14 and under, a phenomenon never before recorded.”
The report indicates that the impact of continued aging of the population is readily apparent in the “potential support ratio” – the number of working-age people per senior. It has been falling and is projected to fall precipitously in the coming decades. Between 2000 and 2026, this ratio will decline from five working-age persons for each senior to just three. Adding to this dilemma, the proportion of Canada’s working-age population, composed of people aged 15 to 64, is projected to begin to decline by 2026. The impact will also be reflected in the “dependency ratio,” the ratio of children and elderly to the working-age population. Currently, for every 100 people of working age, there are 46 children and elderly people. But projections show that in 2026, the dependency ratio will range between 55 and 60.
See the Statistics Canada report at: https://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/010313/d010313.pdf