THE FUTURE POPULATION OF CANADA, ITS AGE DISTRIBUTION AND DEPENDENCY RELATIONS

Population aging has become a subject of widespread popular and academ ic interest. In providing an assessment of the extent of aging that is in prospect, this paper makes available a number of projections of th e age-sex distribution of the Canadian population for the 45-year peri od 1996 to 2041 and comparisons with the previous 45-year period. The projections combine assumptions relating to fertility, mortality, and migration so as to produce future populations characterized as ''mediu m,'' ''old,'' ''young,'' ''high immigration'' and ''low immigration''. Supplementary calculations include growth rates, for both the total p opulation and selected age groups, and various types of dependency rat ios, including ones with a range of age-differentiated weights. It is concluded that substantial aging of the Canadian population appears vi rtually certain but, based on the demographic evidence, the ''dependen cy burden'' is likely to remain below the peak levels attained during the baby boom.