Conference Board News Release > Canada‘s Generation Gap Follows North-South Boundaries

Conference Board News Release > Canada‘s Generation Gap Follows North-South Boundaries

According to the 2006 census, more than 20 per cent of the population in most of Canada’s Northern regions was under the age of 15. In contrast, only a handful of areas in Southern Canada had 20 per cent of their residents in this age cohort.

The youth of the Northern population is most apparent in Northern Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Northern Manitoba, where 30 per cent or more of the residents were under the age of 15 in 2006. The Northwest Territories (24 per cent), Northern Alberta (23 per cent), Northern Newfoundland and Labrador (21 per cent), Northern British Columbia (20 per cent), and Yukon (19 per cent) also had shares of their populations under 15 that were equal to or greater than any region of Southern Canada.

Nationally, the population is aging rapidly. The Conference Board of Canada predicts that the number of Canadians aged 65 years or over will surpass the number of children 15 or younger for the first time in the country’s history in 2019. In the North, however, the number of children will still be more than double the number of seniors.

In 2009, 4.7 million Canadians were 65 or older, about 13.9 per cent of the total population. By 2025, the Conference Board’s long-term economic outlook projects that Canadians 65 and older will make up 20 per cent of the population. In contrast, only 7.2 per cent of the population in Nunavut is expected to be 65
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