Recent changes in demographic trends in Canada

Interesting overview of Canadian demographic changes, shifting the balance between Canada’s regions:

Canada’s population growth masks some very different trends from one region to another. Using various data sources, including Statistics Canada’s most recent projections on population and diversity, this article provides a general overview of these trends and discusses how recent demographic changes could impact the age structure, diversity and population share of the various regions of Canada over the next decades.

• Over the period from 2011 to 2014, the three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) all had faster population growth on average than the national growth, and the highest population growth among the provinces. This is a first since 1971.
• Conversely, population growth in the Atlantic provinces has remained close to zero in recent years. For the first time in the country’s history, more deaths than births were recently recorded in three of the four Atlantic provinces.
• In the mid-2030s, the percentage of seniors aged 65 and over could exceed 31% in Newfoundland and Labrador and reach 18% in Alberta. This difference would then be larger than the one observed in 2014 between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (18%) and Alberta (11%).
• In 2031, the percentage of individuals belonging to a visible minority could exceed 40% in Ontario, compared with 3% in Newfoundland and Labrador. This difference would then be larger than the one observed in 2011 between British Columbia (27%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (1%).
• If recent demographic trends continue, the population share of the Prairie provinces could surpass Quebec’s in less than 50 years. Moreover, the population share of the four Atlantic provinces could decrease to less than 5% of Canada’s population.

Source: Recent changes in demographic trends in Canada