Canada’s Changing Population: Key Trends Shaping our Future

Canada’s Changing Population: Key Trends Shaping our Future

In 2024, YMCA Canada commissioned several reports to explore areas where significant changes lie ahead. The report were launched at the 2024 YMCA National Conference in Halifax in June. The report on demographic change was prepared by the Environics Institute.

This report explores the ways in which Canada is changing by highlighting nine specific demographic trends. The goal is twofold. First, it is to provide a concise but comprehensive look at how demographic change is affecting Canada today. The second is to anticipate how the country will look in another 25 years, as the year 2050 approaches. The demographic trends unfolding today will shape our future.

Among other things, this report highlights a series of paradoxes. The country is becoming more populated overall while some regions face the challenge of depopulation. And while there are more and more people around, Canadians increasingly find themselves living alone. We are facing the tremendous challenge of an ageing society, yet for the first time in decades the number of children will soon begin to increase. Our society as a whole is becoming more secular, while at the same time some religious affiliations are growing. And while people from all backgrounds are becoming more educated than ever, several gaps in educational attainment are widening.

Understanding the implications of these and other developments can help governments, companies, and community organizations better prepare for the Canada that awaits them.

Read the report

For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Parkin.

The Environics Institute would like to thank YMCA Canada for leading and supporting this project.