In 2023, Canada will have more seniors than children for the first time in its history, data show..Statistics Canada yesterday identified the "greyest" cities in the country, according to Blacklock's Reporter..The data “present new estimates,” said a StatsCan report Annual Demographic Estimates. The agency named cities where residents over 65 number more than a quarter of the population..Parksville, BC, population 13,000, is Canada’s greyest city, with 44% of residents eligible for Old Age Security. Others were Elliot Lake, ON. (39.5% of residents), Cobourg and Wasaga Beach, ON. (34%) and Hawkesbury, ON. (32%)..Other grey cities were Matane, Penticton, Powell River and Thetford Mines (31% of residents), Courtenay (30%), Bathurst, Collingwood, Salmon Arm and Tillsonburg (29%), Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC. (28.5%), Brockville, Cowansville, Edmunston, Joliette, Kawartha Lakes and Port Hope (28%), Campbellton, Duncan, Owen Sound, Rimouski, Vernon and Victoriaville (27%), Alma, Cape Breton, Lachute, Midland and Miramichi (26%)..Among capital cities, Victoria had the largest population of seniors (23%) followed by Québec City (22%), Fredericton and Charlottetown (18%), Ottawa, Halifax and St. John’s (17%), Winnipeg (16.5%), Toronto (16%), Regina (15%) and Edmonton (14.5%)..Nationwide the population over 65 is expected to outnumber children this year, a Canadian first. Chief Actuary Assia Billig in an Actuarial Report On The Old Age Security Program said the country will have 7,663,000 pensioners and 7,471,000 children..“The retirement of Baby Boomers reaching age 65 over the next few decades is projected to increase the expenditure of the program,” wrote Actuary Billig..“The number of beneficiaries of the Old Age Security basic pension is projected to increase by 53 %” within about a decade, wrote Billig. Canada currently has some 6.6 million seniors. The number will reach 10.1 million by 2035 “mainly due to the retirement of the Baby Boom generation,” added Billig..StatsCan in a 2017 report Working Seniors In Canada said the number of pensioners who remained in the workforce was the “highest on record” and expected to grow..“The percentage of seniors who reported working nearly doubled between 1995 and 2011, with most of the increase coming from part-year or part-time work,” wrote analysts..A total of 7% of 80-year-olds were still on the job, said StatsCan, while 20% of 70-year-olds remained in the workforce. Typical jobs included sales, retail management and truck driving.
