Miscellaneous Metrics from Statistics Canada's 2015 Demographic Estimates Compendium

Earlier this week, Statistics Canada released its 2015 estimates of population for Canada and its provinces and territories. Some of the highlights from the release include:

  • Canada’s population grew faster than any other G7 country's over the past year. Between 2014 and 2015, Canada added 308,116 net new residents and grew by 0.9%. While this growth rate was slower than the 1.1% seen in the previous year and the 1.0% seen over the past two decades, our national population posted the fastest growth among G7 countries.

  • Alberta recorded the fastest population growth among provinces. While falling slightly behind Nunavut’s 2.3% growth over the past year, and in spite of dramatically lowered oil prices, Alberta still managed to post the fastest growth among Canadian provinces, at 1.8%. Conversely, Newfoundland and New  Brunswick each saw their populations decline, by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

  • Almost 9-in-10 Canadians live in four provinces in 2015. 86% of the Canadian population is concentrated in four provinces: Ontario (38%), Quebec (23%), British Columbia (13%), and Alberta (12%). 

  • For the 43rd consecutive year, Canada's median age increased. The median age in Canada is currently 40.5 years, making us older (and wiser?) than in the mid-1990s when our median age was 34.4 years, and in the early-1970s when our median age was 26.2 years. New Brunswick has the highest median age in the country, at 44.8 years, while the Northwest Territories is the youngest, at 25.8.

  • Make way for Grandma, kiddies. For the first time in our history, Canada’s seniors population (those aged 65+) outnumbers children (those under 15). The Canada-wide ratio of seniors to children now sits at 1.01, with Nova Scotia posting the highest senior-to-child ratio within Canada at 1.35, and Nunavut the lowest ratio, at 0.12.

  • Busters are the new Boomers. Another demographic milestone that has recently been attained is Canada's Buster generation (those aged 30 to 49) now outnumbering the Boomers (aged 50 to 69): today, there are 9.69 million Busters versus 9.51 million Boomers. While the Boomers are still more prevalent in BC, the Atlantic provinces, and Quebec, the Busters outnumber the Boomers in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and in each of the territories.

Source: 2015 Demographic Estimates Compendium, Statistics Canada