Skip to main content

A man looks over a brochures offering various retirement savings options Friday, February 3, 2012 in Montreal.Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Highlights from the census:

> The number of Canadians aged 65 and older increased more than 14 per cent between 2006 and 2011 and is now close to 5 million. By contrast, the number of children aged 14 and under increased;

> For the first time there were more people in the age group where people typically leave the labour force (55 to 64) than in the age group where people typically enter it (15 to 24);

> There are three dominant generations in Canada: 9.6 million people were baby boomers, those aged 46 to 65; 9.1 million people, or 27 per cent of the total population, belong to the children of the baby boomer generation, or those aged 19 to 39; 7.3 million people, or 21.9 per cent belong to the so-called millennial generation, or those born since 1993;

> The highest proportions of seniors are living in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and British Columbia. Seven of the 10 municipalities with the highest proportion of seniors were in British Columbia. In Parksville, B.C., seniors accounted for 38.6 per cent of the population;

> The rate of population growth for people 100 years and older was 25.7 per cent, the second highest of all age groups among the Canadian population. In 2011, about 40 per cent of all centenarians were exactly 100 while six per cent were 105 or older. Population projections show the number of centenarians will likely rise;

> Canada's population is one of the youngest among G8 nations, but the baby boom in Canada was larger than in other G8 countries, and most baby boomers have not reached age 65.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe