Prince Edward Island – Immigration not enough

Immigration has slowed the rate of aging of the P.E.I. population over the last five years, but it is still likely that 50 per cent of the population will be older than 45 by 2019. 

The good news is that this means the unemployment rate is likely to fall dramatically over the next decade, as there will be fewer and fewer people in the workforce. The downside is that smaller workforce will be supporting a growing retired population.

“Unless we grow our population the tax burden on people living here is just going to be increasingly unwieldy and unacceptable,” said Mills.

“The cost of taxation is going to be so high to be able to afford to keep paying the health bill for all these aging boomers. We’re going to go from something like 3.9 workers for every retired person down to 2.5, for instance, in the next 10 years or so. Where does the money come from to pay for all these services?”

The numbers show change is already upon us. If some balance cannot be found in the population, and quickly, the province could find itself falling into a spiral it is difficult to get out of.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Immigration not enough to save P.E.I. population – Prince Edward Island – CBC News.