OTTAWA – Alberta has found the magic formula to slow aging, at least for now.
Canada’s fast-growing province is also among its youngest, according to the newest 2011 census data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
The numbers hint at a province better-positioned to deal with Canada’s national demographic challenge of a rapidly aging population.
The proportion of seniors in Canada surged to a record high of 14.8 per cent over the last five years, while the number of people on the verge of retirement outpaced those ready to enter the market for the first time ever.
Despite the nationwide numbers, Alberta’s proportion of seniors grew to just 11.1 per cent, the lowest in the nation.
Its median age is just 36.5 compared to a national average of 40.6. The province also boasts the lowest proportion of baby boomers at just 26.9 per cent of the population.
And it has a steady supply of workers, at least for now, to replace its baby boomers. There are 496,685 people aged 15 to 24 compared to 415,945 aged 55 to 64.
The secret: healthy migration and a huge spike the in the number of children under the age of four.
The province had the highest proportion of working aged (15 to 64) people in the country at 70.1 per cent, two points higher than the national average.
It’s a number propelled by the larger number of people between the ages of 20 and 40 thanks to waves of young workers looking for opportunities in the booming province.
Those migrants are at the right age to help provide the second ingredient for youth – a baby boom.
Out of all Canadian provinces, Alberta posted the largest increase in the number of children under the age of four at 20.9 per cent.
But youth can’t last forever, said Stastics Canada senior demographer Laurent Martel.
“We are going see population aging in all provinces and territories over the next 20 years, that is something that is assured,” he said.
2011 marked a dividing line in Canadian demography as the year the country’s oldest baby boomers turned 65. The steady aging of the boomers will mean Canada’s population, including Alberta, will continue to grey – a reality that brings many important policy challenges for governments.
The substantial tax base offered by the boomers will be steadily eroded as their need for expensive social programs continues to grow.
Laurent said governments should start planning now, while Alberta is in the early stages of transition.
“Alberta obviously has a lower share of seniors so they are not at the same stage in that process as the Atlantic provinces,” he said. “It means that probably transitions towards older generations are at a different stage and obviously government’s need to adapt to the changing population but not at the same rhythm.”
Alberta’s steady infusion of youth could help the province deal with the pressures it will face as significant number of its residents age, increase their reliance on the health care system and use other expensive social programs associated with aging.
Alberta’s youth is apparent in many of its cities. Calgary has the lowest proportion of seniors at 9.8 per cent of all other census metropolitan areas. It is trailed by Edmonton, where seniors make up 11.4 per cent of the population.
Both cities also have higher proportions of children under 14 than the national average, with most of the children found in the suburbs.
Five in ten of Canada’s census agglomerations with the highest proportion of working age people were located in Alberta. The highest was the oil sands town of Wood Buffalo, where 79.3 per cent of the population was working age.
The Town of Banff had the highest share of working population in the entire country with 83.4 per cent, with many young people attracted to the recreational activities offered by living in the heart of a national park.
Tuesday’s release is the latest in a series of data including population, marital status, language and dwelling type, tallied as part of the 2011 census – a national survey done every five years.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.