Home to more seniors than children for first time in history

From 2011 to 2016, Canadians aged 65 and older jumped to 16.9% of Canada’s population, exceeding the share of children who currently make up 16.6% of the population. he increase is the largest observed in Canada since confederation.

As a result of the rapid increase, 2016 marked the first time in the survey’s history that Canada recorded being home to more seniors (5.9 million) than children 14 years of age and younger (5.8 million).

The first baby boomers turning 65 in 2011 led to a 20% increase in the number of Canadians aged 65 and older – the largest increase recorded in 70 years. In comparison, Canada’s overall population only grew by 5% during this time frame with the number of children aged 14 and younger increasing by 4.1%.

The share of people aged 15 to 64 was also higher in Canada than in other countries. Statistics Canada suspect this situation could be a massive benefit for the Canadian economy, as the country still has a large working-age population and a smaller share of children and seniors than elsewhere.

Approximately 1% of Canadians in 2016 lived in nursing homes or seniors’ residences. However, with the rapid increase in the number of senior citizens, Statistics Canada expect these numbers are expecting to increase in the near future.

Canadian women continue to make up the majority of the overall Canadian population, just by a bit.

The latest census figures released by Statistics Canada.  show there were 97 men for every 100 women, a figure that has held relatively steady over 15 years based on data with the agency.

At the youngest age range, men outnumber women, but their lead diminishes over time and evaporates between the ages of 35 and 64, thanks to the longer lifespans of women.

The 2016 census count showed that for seniors aged 85 to 99, there were just 54 men for every 100 women. For centenarians, a rapidly growing segment of the population, female dominance is overwhelming: There was an almost one-to-five ratio between men and women.

The makeup of men to women across the country varies from city to city. Report  by Statistics Canada  shows that cities that are predominantly male are often so because they are home to prisons, military bases, and sports facilities like ski resorts.

Kent, B.C., had just over six men for every five women, the highest such ratio of any community in Canada: It’s home to two federal penitentiaries, Mountain Institution and Kent Institution.

Also making the top 10 list of cities with more men than women were Oromocto, N.B., and Petawawa, Ont., both home to large military bases, and Whistler, B.C., known for its all-season mountain playgrounds.

On the flip side, cities with a larger seniors population tend to have more women because, on average, women live longer than men. That’s the case around Vancouver, where the four municipalities on Vancouver Island and the suburb of White Rock had ratios of four men for every five women.

The spot in the country where women most outnumber men in the census was Perth, Ont., where there were just under four men for every five women counted.