Retiring boomers slowing labour force growth: StatsCan
Posted August 17, 2011 9:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Statistics Canada says Canada’s labour force continues to grow but retiring baby boomers will slow the rate of growth to a crawl over the next 20 years.
By 2031, the agency estimates there could be as many as 22.5 million people working, compared to 18.5 million last year.
But while in 1981 there were roughly six people working for each retiree, by 2031 the ratio will be three to one.
By that year, the agency also projects that the participation rate in the labour force could be as low as it was in the 1970s, with less than 63 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 at work.
Canada’s workforce is not only aging, it is also becoming more ethnically diverse.
StatsCan estimates that by 2031, roughly one in every three people in the labour force could be foreign born.
