Pedro Antunes, director of the national and provincial economic forecast team at the Conference Board of Canada talks about Canada’s aging population and its impact on the country’s labour force. Pedro Antunes by kwirwa
From 2009 to 2036, Canada’s population is expected to grow from 33.7 million to between 40.1 million under the low growth scenario and 47.7 million under the high growth scenario.
The growth depends on two factors: natural increase (births minus deaths), and net international migration (immigrants minus emigrants).
The number of deaths is projected to increase during the entire period between 2009 and 2036, as the baby boom generation gets older. Under the medium-growth scenario, natural increase would remain positive until 2036, although the levels of births and deaths would get closer over time.
The ageing of the population is projected to accelerate rapidly, as the entire baby boom generation will turn 65 during this period. The number of senior citizens could more than double, up to 10.9 million in 2036 from 4.7 million in 2009, outnumbering children aged 14 or under for the first time.
Immigration levels would represent a larger share of the projected population growth at the national level. Because large numbers of new immigrants consist of younger individuals in the child-bearing age, sustained levels of immigration would also have a positive impact on the number of births.
Canada would receive roughly 333,600 immigrants a year by 2036, compared with 252,500 in 2010.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2010.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Need for workforce
Health sector:
There is need for Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical technologists and technicians and assisting occupations in support of health services (such as nurse aides and dental assistants). The demand for those occupations has been strong, due to rising needs associated with population ageing, increases in government funding for health care and a high number of retirements of existing workers.
Management occupations:
Senior management, human resources managers are also considered in shortage, largely as a result of high levels of retirement of older workers.
Occupations related to the booming industries:
Such as in mining, oil and gas, in the trades such as home builders and renovators, and in activities such as information technology sector, computer engineering and software engineering, social sciences and government service.
Source : Human Resources and Skills Development Canada: A ten-year outlook for the Canadian labour market (2006-2015).
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Related Links:
Statistics Canada’s Population Projections (2009 to 2036)
A ten-year outlook for the Canadian labour market (2006-2015)