(OTTAWA) Canada, home to nearly 37 million people, is on the verge of a “record wave” of retirement amid a labor shortage and historic low unemployment, Statistics Canada announced on Wednesday.
Posted at 2:14 pm.
“Canada faces a record wave of retirements in an aging workforce: the number of people aged 65 and over has grown six times faster than the number of children aged 0 to 14”, a press release in the National Statistical Institute.
“Never before has the number of people approaching retirement been so high,” he writes.
The population aged 55 to 64 represents more than 1 in 5 (21.8%) of the working-age population, “a peak in Canadian census history” and “at the root of widespread regional labor shortages across the country.” One of the factors.”
In recent months, the country’s unemployment rate has continued to decline, falling to 5.3% in March, the lowest level on record.
The 7 million Canadians aged 65 and over represent 19% of the population, up from 16.9% in 2016, but remain “healthy, active and engaged for a long time”.
According to estimates, by 2046, the number of Canadians aged 85 and older could triple.
Demographic aging has been explained by declining fertility and longer life expectancy, particularly since 2016. In addition, the pandemic has slowed growth.
“Fertility reached a historic level of 1.4 children per woman in 2020. If this decline continues over the next few years, demographic aging could be more rapid than expected,” Statistics Canada’s Laurent Martel warned during a press briefing.
The statement said immigration is “rejuvenating Canada’s population”, but it is not enough to reverse the process.
However, Canada’s population is “still the youngest in the G7 after the United States and the United Kingdom”.