Canada – Unprepared for population ageing

Canada long ago missed the chance to properly prepare for the inexorable ageing of its population and its broader implications for healthcare, society and the economy.

From 2021 to 2041, the number of seniors (65-plus) will rise from 7,081,800 to 10,869,000, an increase of 3.8 million people.1 Those 75-plus will double and those 85-plus will triple, both cohorts whose current and projected health status is more or less “baked in” compared to younger cohorts who can take advantage of health-enhancing changes in lifestyle, medical and social services.

Evident as the babyboomers were being born, the ageing of the Canadian population is simultaneously the most predictable of our public policy problems and one for which we are least prepared.

We have been “flying blind” without sensitive, comprehensive information on the health of Canadians and the determinants of health and well- being over time. Instead, information has focused on spending on inputs to healthcare as opposed
to outcomes.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @  Verbatim: Health and Ageing | C.D. Howe Institute | Canada Economy News | Canadian Government Policy