Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - March 2010
A new government report has identified Canada’s aging population as a significant economic concern in the near future.
The report, tabled by Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, warns that the aging population will strain the finances of both the health care system, as well as the benefit programs set up for the elderly. The population of Canadians considered to be elderly, or over the age of 65, is expected to jump by over 3 per cent per year for the next 15 years.
Though officials within the Conservative Party are dismissing the report’s warnings as being far too long-term to cause worry, the latest statistics show that already the financial impacts of Canada’s aging population are being felt.
In the first nine months of this fiscal year, the government paid out over $1-billion in Security benefits. However, they argue that such payouts are to be expected and should not be sparking controversy.
"It's not a big revelation that the elderly population is growing.... The government has acknowledged it for a long time," he said a spokesperson for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. "It would be a stretch to take a reasonable and expected increase in costs incurred over a nine-month period and draw 75-year conclusions about it."
The Conservative government is currently running a $39.4-billion deficit for the current year, mostly due to their Economic Action Plan, designed to stimulate the Canadian economy into recovery after the global recession.
Source: Globe and Mail
