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The nation's median age has been rising steadily since the end
of the baby boom in 1966, when it was only 25.4 years. Nova Scotia
and Quebec were the nation's oldest provinces, each with a median
age of 38.8 years. Alberta was the youngest with a median age of
35.0.
The group to increase at the fastest pace was that aged 80 and
over. From 1991 to 2001, their numbers soared 41.2% to 932,000.
The number of people aged 80 or over is expected to increase an
additional 43% from 2001 to 2011, during which time it will surpass
an estimated 1.3 million.
At the same time, Canada has undergone a substantial decline
in the number of children aged four and under. In 2001, the census
counted 1.7 million children in this age group, down 11.0% from
1991, the result mostly of Canada's declining fertility rate. By
2011, this group may decline to an estimated 1.6 million.
The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, Profile of the Canadian
population by age and sex: Canada ages, Catalogue number 96F0030XIE2001002.
Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics
Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data
from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistic Canada’s
Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at: www.statcan.ca,
and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.
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New census data on age and sex show that as of May 15, 2001, the median age of Canada's population reached an all-time high of 37.6 years, an increase of 2.3 years from 35.3 in 1996. This was the biggest census-to-census increase in a century. Median age is the point where exactly one-half of the population is older, and the other half is younger.